From a computer game in which the aliens want Johnny to negotiate a peace treaty for them, to the inhabitants of a cemetery who are just discovering how much fun being alive can be, to the time of the Blitz, join Johnny Maxwell and his friends in these three terrific tales from the master of comic fantasy. ONLY YOU CAN SAVE MANKIND - Shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award. JOHNNY AND THE DEAD - Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal; A Writers' Guild Award Winner; Also televised by LWT for ITV. JOHNNY AND THE ...
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From a computer game in which the aliens want Johnny to negotiate a peace treaty for them, to the inhabitants of a cemetery who are just discovering how much fun being alive can be, to the time of the Blitz, join Johnny Maxwell and his friends in these three terrific tales from the master of comic fantasy. ONLY YOU CAN SAVE MANKIND - Shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Award. JOHNNY AND THE DEAD - Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal; A Writers' Guild Award Winner; Also televised by LWT for ITV. JOHNNY AND THE BOMB - Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal; Shortlisted for the Children's Book Award; Smarties Prize Silver Medal Winner.
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Seller's Description:
Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. Though second-hand, the book is still in very good shape. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine.
I read a few Pratchett's during high school, and liked them, but never really got into the Discworld series whole-hog. Then I came across this hardback trilogy in a used book store, and decided to take a chance on Pratchett in a different genre. I was glad I did.
Johnny Maxwell and his gang of friends are relatively average, working class kids. Kinda like the Outsiders, but English and urban. They talk about popular TV shows (with "Cobbers" standing in for "EastEnders"), hang out, fight aliens, talk to the dead, time travel .... Pratchett takes a few tried-and-true story arcs, adds satirical social commentary, mixes in some zany fight and flight, and ends up with a pretty entertaining product. These three stories see Johnny through some interesting adventures, and he comes out a different kid at the end of them. Pratchett's humorous world-view adds miles and miles to what otherwise might be a tired re-tread of "The Last Starfighter," and other such campy nonsense (which has it's place, don't get me wrong).
And a side note for non-Brits (me included): when the author says something is written in "biro" he means ink, like from a Bic pen. I had to look that one up, since my foreign language skills kept insisting he was talking about a joke ....