Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Boomtown is a Blast!, December 9, 2008
Boomtown, Chang's Famous Fireworks Factory (Book One) is a truly delightful read! You will be hooked after reading the first page. The author does a wonderful job of transporting us to a small town set in the late 1940's. After reading this book, I wished there was still a place like this in which to raise a family.
My 11 year old son read the book and could not put it down. He says, "Boomtown is an exciting book that will enthrall readers of all ages. I know I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much I could hardly put the book down, even during school, the teacher had to threaten me with detention and an "academic study skills period" because I was reading my book so much. This book is one of the best books I have read." That says a lot from a young man who reads 5-10 books each week.
The narrative descriptions are magical and will thrill readers of all ages. The characters are rich and engaging even though the story takes place more than 50 years in the past. The jacket cover and the author's pen name, Nowen N. Particular, will have you smiling before you even open the book. At several places in this delightful tale, I found myself laughing out loud. Books like this that catapult one's imagination and plant a seed of hope that things can be better are not published very often.
We highly recommend this book and cannot wait for the next one in the series!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
BOOMTOWN by Nowen N. Particular, January 19, 2009
BOOMTOWN by Nowen N. Particular
Quick synopsis:
A pastor and his family move to a new town and become acclimated with the community. Boomtown is filled with lots of diverse people who all seem to get along in spite of their differences - and they love fireworks. The pastor is pushed out of his comfort zone as he gets to know his new community.
Things I liked about this book:
- It had a really fun and engaging story line with lots of interesting characters and entertaining events
- It had a good emphasis on getting along with people who are not like you and learning to appreciate one another's differences
Things I didn't like about this book:
- The father was consistently a poor leader of his family. His children were disobedient and disrespectful throughout the entire book without consequence. He frequently "caved" into doing what his kids wanted to do and was portrayed as being very out of touch.
- While unity was a big theme, there was no genuine Christian unity displayed. What people thought about God seemed to be pretty irrelevant.
- The teaching about the church was really unclear at best. The church wasn't distinct at all - it functioned similarly to a school or a library, as just another institution to serve the community at large.
- There was a real lack of any sort of justice - or even pursuing worthy goals. If people did something wrong, or failed in some way, it was overlooked, and usually even celebrated.
My overall thoughts:
I would not recommend this book. While it's a fun story, you'd get more edifying teaching from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in my opinion. I think that at best, this book shows that disobeying parents is okay. Even worse, it paints a false picture of Christian unity and confuses the importance of the church. In a town where it doesn't really matter what you think or do, there isn't a basis for truth, justice, forgiveness, or reconciliation - and hence, while it seeks to paint a beautiful picture of unity, it really leaves out the gospel.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Boomtown, A Bang to read!, December 5, 2008
Title: Boom Town Book One
written and illustrated by: Nowen N. Particular (aka Marty Longe')
published by Thomas Nelson
2008
Genre: Kids/Juvenile/Fiction
ISBN-13:978-1-4003-1345-7
A church, with a history of pastors who don't "make" it, a new pastor and his family, and mysterious disappearing objects, all the setting and beginning of a wonderfully entertaining story. I read this book in one sitting with tears streaming down my face, from laughing so hard.
My imagination was stretched as the author described marvels I would have never thought of. A mansion turned museum with switches that did all sorts of amazing thing using steam. A town where every celebration somehow involved fireworks. A miraculous healing (of sorts) due to a gerbil. A football team famous for loosing games for forty long years. Floods, long winters, Spring Fever Festivals, parades, an Indian tribe that performs in a famous circus, interspersed with the most interesting characters you will in any town, will capture and hold your attention. Combine all these things (and more) and then add in a bit of mystery with things disappearing, and mounds of dirt appearing and a rarely glimpsed stranger and you have the perfect setting for a book that is wonderfully written and illustrated by Nowen N. Particular.
This story does not have a dull moment in it. Your imagination will stretch and grow as you picture all the many wonders described in this book. You will laugh as unfortunate incidents turn into comedic moments, and chuckle at a pastor who stays is desperate to not follow in the footsteps of his previous 24 predecessors. You also will be amazed by a story of family love and devotion.
This reviewer gives this book a 5 star rating, along with a standing round of applause for a story that is well written and very entertaining. [...] 323 pages
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
