Moone Boy: The Blunder Years - Hardcover

Chris O'Dowd is an award-winning actor, writer and director. He has appeared in many films, including Bridesmaids, The Sapphires and This Is 40. He has also starred in cult TV series The IT Crowd, Family Tree and Girls, as well as Moone Boy for Sky, which he wrote and directed with his friend Nick Vincent Murphy. Currently rehearsing for the Broadway production of Of Mice and Men with James Franco, he is due to work on Stephen Frears's forthcoming film about Irish journalist David Walsh and cyclist Lance Armstrong, playing the lead role of David Walsh. Chris is from Roscommon, Ireland, but is currently based in LA. He studied politics at Dublin University before training at LAMDA. Nick Vincent Murphy is an Irish screenwriter from Kilkenny, now based in London. He studied English and History at Trinity College, Dublin, and did a Masters in Film Production at the Dublin Institute of Technology. In 2007 he was a writer on the acclaimed television comedy-drama series The Running Mate, and in 2010 his first feature film, Hideaways, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival before going on to win the Melies d'Argent Award for Best European Film at the Strasbourg Film Festival. In 2010 he co-wrote a short film, Capturing Santa, with Chris O'Dowd, as part of the Little Crackers series for Sky, which they then developed into comedy series Moone Boy, which recently won an International Emmy for Best Comedy.

Gr 4–7—In this novel, based on an acclaimed Irish television show, Martin Moone is an 11-year-old boy with three overbearing older sisters, parents who largely ignore him, and school bullies who regularly torment him. When he decides to apply for an Imaginary Friend (IF), seeking a supportive "wingman," he gets hilarious results. Martin ends up with two competing IFs—obnoxious Loopy Lou and lazy Sean Murphy—and must find a resolution. The audiobook is narrated by the authors with voices that are expressive and distinct. In particular, the over-the-top, needy personality of IF Loopy Lou is perfectly captured. Although the charming illustrations present in the book (Feiwel & Friends, 2015) are missed, the recording makes up for it with its abundance of auditory gifts, especially the raucous voices and singing. The authors' rendering of the footnotes (which explain the meanings of Irish words in comical ways) is amusing but can be distracting. VERDICT Give this to "Wimpy Kid"` fans; tweens will love it.—Julie Paladino, formerly of East Chapel Hill High School, NC