Customer Reviews

Boomtown: Chang's Famous Fireworks

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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!

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.

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

I'm a details person. When I buy a product that has clever packaging, little gems in every nook and cranny, it makes me love the product more - putting in that extra effort, to me, says you care about your product. So when I got my copy of Boomtown I was immediately impressed by the little details. The author's pseudonym reminded me of Lemony Snicket. The concept of a warm and caring Utopian society who just happen to be obsessed with blowing things up - it all sounded terrific. I couldn't wait to devour it.

Boomtown is the story of reverend Arthur Button, who moves his family to Boomtown after accepting a job with Boomtown Church. His wife and three children are all funny and clever - the kids are always getting into trouble but escaping unscathed. These four do very well in Boomtown and hearing the story from any of their perspectives might have been a treat. But this story is told from the point of view of Arthur, who is the most boring stick in the mud you will ever meet.

I think most people would love to live in Boomtown. But Arthur Button does not. And since we are reading from his perspective, the whole thing feels boring and stuffy. Button almost dies 6 times in this story and I don't think I cared once.

What disappoints me the most was the sheer amount of potential this book had - if it hadn't been narrated by Arthur, it might have been great. Why was this a children's book? I can't imagine any kid who would want to read a story told from the perspective of their father. Most kids would rather read a story from another kid's perspective.

Supposedly there will be a second book - I won't be reading it. But hopefully my negative review will yield a positive result for Nowen N. Particular - you had a good idea, you just mucked it up royally. Next time, try writing from the perspective of someone we can care about.

*Disclaimer* : I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Our 9 year old son read this when he was 8 and re-reads it over and over. We are big readers here and my son mostly reads many classic books. He reads very little at the "popular" level. This book he *LOVES* and thinks it is hilarious. I do too. I read the critical review and wanted to say this is just a fun, wholesome book without analyzing the outworking of the church members' faith. We are very discriminating about exposing our children to non-edifying behavior, but in the case of this book; it is just fun! I am glad my son enjoys this funny book so much.

Imagine a place where everyone's favorite thing to do is blow stuff up . . . that's Boomtown.

This is a humerous mystery and adventure story that kids (especially boys) will love to read! Boomtown is the home of Chang's Famous Fireworks factory, the Slush Olympics, the "Fighting Slugs" football team, rocket reindeer, and flying barber chairs. Boomtown is a humorous tall tale about a fictional town and its odd residents, written to capture the attention and inspire the imagination of intermediate readers. It's a fun read. However, underneath the humorous veneer, Boomtown asks and answers the question, "What does a healthy community look like?" The main characters struggle as they learn to trust their neighbors.




It cracked me up from the beginning because of the author's name-did you notice that?

The cover is cute too and the story is funny. I think that it would be most entertaining for 10-12 year olds. It is a story about a pastor's family and kids getting into funny situations.

There is a bit of mystery and lots of funny stories. It took me awhile to get into the book, but I think that's because it's not really written for adults!

If you're looking for a fun summer read for your kids see what you think about this one.

This book is HILARIOUS!!!! Exploding chickens, exploding santas, exploding door mats, fireworks, adventure, mystery and fun charecters, I would definetly recommend this book to anyone.

So if your in the mood for a good laugh, then Boomtown id the book for you.

Have haven't read all of this, but have read parts with my kids. What I read was great writing and good clean fun. My 9-year-old son got this from one of his friends for his birthday and he LOVES it. He read it on his own and now is reading it as a read aloud with us at bedtime. He is an advanced reader so I'm not sure all 9-year-olds would be able to read it on their own, but they would certainly like it read to them if they couldn't get all the words. My son also just bought this for a friend for his birthday.

Boomtown: This book sort of reminded me of Charley and the Chocolate factory. It was kind of quirky that way. As an adult, I had a hard time sticking with this book. As an adult female I should say. My 12 year old started to read the book. He has to be coaxed into reading. Although he hasn't finished the book, what he had read, he seems to enjoy at this point.

I felt the story was a little choppy...seemed to not flow well through out the book. I think a young boy would find the humor in this book.

This is a Christian author. There isn't much Christianity taught through out the book, however the father is a pastor.

Boomtown is a qwarky little place for the Buttons to live...They have interesting things happening to them, even before they got the Boomtown. Things keep going haywire..there are many celebrations that involve fireworks at every turn.

As I stated above, I think young boys will enjoy this book. I generally enjoy other types of books. But if you are looking for something for a young boy, with a great imagination, and clean writing, then this is the book.

I bought this book at a Christian bookstore because I am concerned about the content my 13 year old boy, Peter, is exposed to. I was so glad that he really liked the book and am sorry there is not another one out yet written by the same author. I would highly recommend this as a safe and entertaining book for your early adolescent!