This is an updated edition of a book originally published in Britain in 1992 as "Gridzbi Spudvetch." My knowledge of children's literature is not that encyclopedic (not even pertaining to authors whose books I have enjoyed in the past), it just says so in the foreword. I reviewed one of Haddon's picture books years ago, and I quite liked "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time" (a big boy book he wrote a few years ago).
All that's beside the point. This is hysterical. I read a lot of middle grade and YA titles that indicate they are "hilarious" "uproarious" "laugh out loud." Many of them make me smile. This one is a stitch! Starts out completely in the realm of possibility and then, as Jim would say, "goes pear shaped."
Jim is just a regular kid. With a slight-slag of an older sister who is dating a real loser. His dad is out of work and his mother has a great job. Jim's not so great at school. When his sister tells him the teachers are talking about sending him to a reform-type school, Jim becomes paranoid. His best friend Charlie's there to save the day with a plan & walkie-talkies...but what they hear listening in to the teacher's meeting blows them away. Two of their most regular teachers are talking in gibberish. Charlie becomes obsessed--to the point of breaking into one of the teachers' house...then a weirdo with a glowing blue finger threatens them at a chicken shop--
And that's all you're going to get out of me.
I DID laugh out loud several times. This reminds me most of Terry Pratchett's "Johnny Maxwell" series crossed with Hitchhiker's Guide sprinkled with Doctor Who (or maybe "The Sarah Jane Adventures"). If you know a young fan of humor or science fiction or books of any nature, this is the book for them. One caveat: it is not one of those "translated" British novels; the slang is intact and can be a bit thick (that's the American thick, rather than the British thick where it can mean "stupid"). Heck, I think adults should read this too. And I really want to see animated versions of the monkey faced spiders of Plonk!