“Billy 9F” by David Finley

Children’s Action Comedy is a difficult genre to work with, because of the varied interests and reading vocabularies of the target audience and the objectives of the adults that make the purchases. The novel makes a good stab at it, involving a great deal of creativity to attract the young adults and a tried-and-true political satire plotline to interest the parents. This crosses an authoritarian sci-fi plotline with weird sci-fi technology that uses the power of laughter to light a city. The way this book works, the blend actually holds together.

I have never read a book with a more convoluted first-person/third-person point of view, but the endearing naiveté of the narrator makes it acceptable. It sometimes goes like, “I’m sure glad I wasn’t there at the scene I just described to you, because I sure would have been embarrassed,” or, “She could hear voices across the hall, which was, of course, Uncle Billy and me talking in my bedroom.”

In fact, It’s the character of Billy that makes the book work. He’s a likeable bundle of beyond-his-years self-awareness and childish mixed emotions. The rest of the characters are humorously stereotyped and exaggerated.  As you might expect, the more evil, the more outré.

The opening chapters move slowly, because of the need for a great deal of exposition of the political and social setting. As we near the middle of the book the action picks up and the suspense gets stronger. At the climax, the humour starts to fade, as it does in all good action comedies, to make way for snappy action sequences and increasing conflict.

This book is all over the map between 1984, Wizard of Oz and SpongeBob SquarePants. It is marketed for 12 years plus, and the vocabulary is appropriate for that level. However, the “Pee Pee, Poo Poo” and fart humour is more appropriate to younger students. It would work as a film where the vocabulary problem disappears. At a guess, I’d say this novel would be a great read-aloud for a Dad to bond with his 8-year-old son.

Four stars.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.