Remote Man [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Honey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2002 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

A supercharged, international, Internet adventure.

Ned is a wizard with a computer. The king of the remote control. He adores snakes, lizards, and skinks, but people are less appealing. Less reliable. Ned is . . . Remote Man. What will it take to peel away his protective layer of indifference? How about a mother on the edge? A wild cousin from the Northern Territory? A sudden extended trip to the States? A goofy new neighbor? Nope, it’ll take a snake. Or two–one an endangered Australian python, and the other a smuggler who sells wild animals to the highest bidder. When Ned discovers what this animal poacher is doing, his anger forces him into action. Now Remote Man is more like a superhero or super sleuth–tracking down clues and enlisting the help of some Web-wise teens. Can five kids on four continents linked only by the Internet manage to foil a very real-world criminal? You bet your Oenpelli python they can.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Popular Australian author Elizabeth Honey (Don't Pat the Wombat!, Fiddleback, etc.) tackles mental illness, Internet obsession, and rare pythons in her latest novel, Remote Man. Thirteen-year-old Ned is a wiz kid when it comes to computers, and he has a passion for skinks and snakes. But when it comes to people--especially his on-the-brink mother--Ned prefers to retreat to the manageable world of the remote control. After moving from Australia to Massachusetts and encountering a notorious international smuggler of endangered species, however, Ned is shaken loose from his apathetic existence. Suddenly, he and four e-mail buddies from around the world are enmeshed in a dangerous plot to put a stop to the criminal's evil ways. Their clever, technologically enhanced scheme may save some critters, but will the friends become endangered species themselves?

Honey's writing, although dealing with serious topics, is witty, exuberant, and very contemporary (much of it is in e-mail correspondence form): a real treat for fans and newcomers alike. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9-From the Australian Outback to Concord, MA, this novel covers a lot of territory. Ned, 13, thinks of himself as Remote Man, partly because he loves to flip through channels with the remote control, and partly because he is a bit of an outsider. When his mother has a nervous breakdown, he is sent to his aunt and uncle's house, where he forms a bond with his cousin, Kate, and his fascination with reptiles sets the stage for his involvement in trying to ensnare a ring of international wildlife poachers. Ned and his mother visit Concord while she recuperates, a move that proves to be fortuitous when the poachers leave a trail that starts in his own backyard and leads to an apartment near the Museum of Natural History in New York City. It is through Ned's technological prowess and his growing network of young sympathetic supporters in Jamaica, France, Australia, and his new neighborhood that the poachers are brought down. E-mail communications, lurking in chat rooms, and creating phony corporate Web pages all contribute to the fast-paced action, and virtual reality and actual reality finally meet in a nail-biting car chase. The characters are lovingly portrayed in this most enjoyable read. Kids will love the techno-action and recognize the foibles and triumphs of both the young people and adults. Readers will want to hear more from these characters who have come to be so alive and important.
Elizabeth Fernandez, Brunswick Middle School, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; 1st American ed edition (July 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375814132
• ISBN-13: 978-0375814136
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,016,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remote Man, March 7, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Remote Man (Paperback)

Remote Man was one of the best books I've ever read. It is about a boy named Ned that loves to watch T.V. he is 13 years old and lives in Australia. One day his mother called and told him to prepare dinner and he just ignored her and kept watching T.V.

When she got home she threw a frying pan at the T.V. and went insane. While she was insane Ned went to live with his cousin Kate.

Ned was in a shop and a man came in and was looking for art. The man bought an x-ray of a rare snake. Ned told him that there was one around and the next time Ned and Kate went to see the snake it was gone.
When Ned got home his mom was invited to stay with the mother of someone she worked with in America. While they were there they solved the mystery of why the snake was missing.
(...)

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, July 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Remote Man (Hardcover)

I was lucky enough to meet Elizabeth Honey several years ago. She and her son were in our town for several months while she 'researched' New England lifestyles and American English for this book. It's wonderfully exciting to read about the Concord prison, the woods, Rt. 495, etc. I loved the way in which she used chat rooms as a plot device. And her characters are very believable. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. It's fast-paced, humorous, and has a great message for animal-lovers.