Review: Moone Boy: The Blunder Years by Chris O'Dowd, Nick V. Murphy

Moone Boy: The Blunder Years by Chris O'Dowd, Nick V. Murphy
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: May 5th, 2015
Purchase: Amazon

Martin Moone is eleven and completely fed up with being the only boy in a family of girls. He's desperate for a decent wingman to help him navigate his idiotic life. So when best mate Padraic suggests Martin get an imaginary friend--or "IF" for short--he decides to give it a go.
His first attempt is Loopy Lou, a hyperactive goofball who loves writing rubbish rap songs. But Martin soon gets fed up with Lou's loopiness and decides to trade in his IF for someone a little less wacky. Enter Sean "Caution" Murphy, an imaginary office clerk in a bad suit with a passion for laziness and a head full of dodgy jokes. Sean is full of tips and tricks to guide Martin through the perils of the playground, from dealing with his sisters' pranks to besting the bullying Bonner boys. But getting rid of Lou is not that easy, and having TWO imaginary friends is a recipe for trouble!

My thoughts:
My husband brought Martin Moone and his crazy Irish family into my life this past summer and my life has never been the same.  I loved this TV show and it brought back so many memories for me because this show felt like The Wonder Years and well that was MY show back in the day.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered Martin and Sean had their very own book!  I had to have this little gem so I one click bought it and couldn't wait to read more Moone adventures!

This book is exactly like the show.  It revolves around Martin, his crazy family full of sisters, his friend Padraic, and his imaginary friend Sean Murphy. Yes you read that right his imaginary friend ha!  I love Sean Murphy and he brings that inner voice that we all loved in The Wonder Years to life!  In this story though we get to see how Sean Murphy came about and that was super fun.   I enjoyed seeing how these two crazy characters came together and how imaginary friends actually work.  Having this as part of the book is great because it makes the reader understand what Martin is going through and why he chose to find an IF (Imaginary friend)  It's not for any big drama reason so don't go looking to far into it lol, it's strictly because he needed a wingman to keep him sane.

I will say I don't know if this will work for those who haven't seen the show.  This book might just seem really silly, but if you find yourself saying I just don't get it watch the show!  It's on Hulu and I promise after you watch the show you will definitely get it!

I've seen this compared to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but this is not that type of book. This is for middle grade because Martin is in sixth grade but it has more teenage situations than middle grade so I wouldn't recommend this for younger readers. 

One side note I loved the addition of the footnotes.  Sometimes when I read books published in another country I have a hard time grabbing the lingo so this little cheat sheet was well appreciated and I found them hilarious!  This was super fun and I will definitely read the next book!

4 snowflakes