Meet Martin Moone and His World of Imaginary Pals in Moone Boy: The Blunder Years
It’s late, and I should have been asleep an hour ago. But I’m giggling myself silly from reading Moone Boy: The Blunder Years, and I know sleep won’t come easy when my stomach muscles hurt from laughing.
Moone Boy: The Blunder Years
Hardcover
$10.55
$14.99
Moone Boy: The Blunder Years
By Chris O'Dowd , Nick V. Murphy
Hardcover
$10.55
$14.99
Moone Boy is the first in an illustrated middle grade series based on the hit Irish sitcom by the same name, created by Chris O’ Dowd (Bridesmaids, The IT Crowd) and Nick V. Murphy. Written for kids between the ages of 9 and 12, the novel will appeal to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Origami Yoda, and The Zombie Chasers.
It tells the story of Martin Moone, an 11-year-old Irish boy with three super annoying sisters. Martin, desperate for a male wingman to help guide him through the tribulations of growing up, learns that his pal Padraic has enlisted the help of an imaginary friend—or IF, for short. (This is the TV show’s premise too, as the opening voiceover explains, “Ever wanted to be the imaginary friend of an idiot boy in the West of Ireland? Me neither. But there you go.”)
Though Martin has tried to conjure IFs in the past, he didn’t have much luck, thanks to his diminutive imagination. Thankfully, Padraic is there to help Martin through the convoluted process (which actually involves much bureaucracy and red tape, culminating in ordering an Imaginary Friend from a catalog).
Martin first orders Loopy Lou, an IF who is full of hijinks, makes balloon animals and frequently shrieks his catchphrase “Oh no, he didn’t!” As you can imagine, things don’t go so well with Loopy Lou—he’s just too darned loopy—leaving Martin no choice but to take his imaginary friend out to lunch so he can awkwardly fire him. Things only get sillier from there.
Since the comedy is layered and presented on many level, kids will enjoy the goofy storyline and slapstick humor, but adults will chuckle at the more subversive, sly jokes.
One of my favorite elements of Moone Boy are the footnotes sprinkled throughout the pages. These are small digressions from the main narrative, but they offer helpful definitions for difficult words, slang, and regional colloquialisms, and they are frequently hilarious.
For viewers of Moone Boy, the TV series, this is just one more version to love. But even those who have never seen the show will delight in the ill-thought adventures of hapless Martin and his sad-sack friends, both real and imaginary. Even when everything seems hopeless—like when Martin is getting bullied at school and one of his imaginary friends faces eviction—Martin remains upbeat and charming. Moone Boy is such an endearing story with a creative cast of characters, I was willing to forego sleep just to see how it ended.
Overall this is a book that left me stoked.*
*Stoked: A California term for happy, delighted. The feeling upon finishing Moone Boy: The Blunder Years, and settling in for a night full of pleasant dreams.
Moone Boy is the first in an illustrated middle grade series based on the hit Irish sitcom by the same name, created by Chris O’ Dowd (Bridesmaids, The IT Crowd) and Nick V. Murphy. Written for kids between the ages of 9 and 12, the novel will appeal to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Origami Yoda, and The Zombie Chasers.
It tells the story of Martin Moone, an 11-year-old Irish boy with three super annoying sisters. Martin, desperate for a male wingman to help guide him through the tribulations of growing up, learns that his pal Padraic has enlisted the help of an imaginary friend—or IF, for short. (This is the TV show’s premise too, as the opening voiceover explains, “Ever wanted to be the imaginary friend of an idiot boy in the West of Ireland? Me neither. But there you go.”)
Though Martin has tried to conjure IFs in the past, he didn’t have much luck, thanks to his diminutive imagination. Thankfully, Padraic is there to help Martin through the convoluted process (which actually involves much bureaucracy and red tape, culminating in ordering an Imaginary Friend from a catalog).
Martin first orders Loopy Lou, an IF who is full of hijinks, makes balloon animals and frequently shrieks his catchphrase “Oh no, he didn’t!” As you can imagine, things don’t go so well with Loopy Lou—he’s just too darned loopy—leaving Martin no choice but to take his imaginary friend out to lunch so he can awkwardly fire him. Things only get sillier from there.
Since the comedy is layered and presented on many level, kids will enjoy the goofy storyline and slapstick humor, but adults will chuckle at the more subversive, sly jokes.
One of my favorite elements of Moone Boy are the footnotes sprinkled throughout the pages. These are small digressions from the main narrative, but they offer helpful definitions for difficult words, slang, and regional colloquialisms, and they are frequently hilarious.
For viewers of Moone Boy, the TV series, this is just one more version to love. But even those who have never seen the show will delight in the ill-thought adventures of hapless Martin and his sad-sack friends, both real and imaginary. Even when everything seems hopeless—like when Martin is getting bullied at school and one of his imaginary friends faces eviction—Martin remains upbeat and charming. Moone Boy is such an endearing story with a creative cast of characters, I was willing to forego sleep just to see how it ended.
Overall this is a book that left me stoked.*
*Stoked: A California term for happy, delighted. The feeling upon finishing Moone Boy: The Blunder Years, and settling in for a night full of pleasant dreams.