Great funny read. Full of brilliant characters and the story kept my sons reading. Great premise and original read.

Spike is determined to be a radio presenter. His firts chance is on a cheesy hospital radio show, but only because his Mum works there. When he is "sacked", he is very disgruntled, but with friends help, they press their headmaster to let them run a school radio. This doesn't quite work out how they expected, and they go rogue, with Radio Boy, a voice disguiser, vinyl records, and a lot of word of mouth recommendations.
This reads easily, and could be quite powerful in the hands of eenagers with hopes and dreams of joining the media.
Laugh out loud, and despair go hand in hand. Thanks to the publisher, and NetGalley for letting me read this.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this review copy.

I requested this book on behalf of my 9 year old son. He's not keen on reading and I was keen to find some books that would get him interested. This book seemed perfect. It looked funny and about a subject that he was interested in. It was also written by Christian O'Connell, the breakfast show presenter on Absolute Radio, who we listen to in the car on the way to school. He thinks he's really funny, so was worth a try.

My son absolutely loved the book. He thought it was hilariously funny and could not put the book down! He kept telling me all the funny books as he went along, and was actually keen to pick the book up to carry on with it! It was a nice simple read, and was about a subject which he found interested so much to the point that he wanted to dress up as Radio Boy for World Book Day (although as we already had his Gangsta Granny costume ready Radio Boy had to be put on the back burner until next year!)

Well done Christian for such a great book! I may even read it myself!!

It's been a while since I've read an MG book (Middle Grade, which is aimed at 8-13 year olds or Year 5-8) but this book instantly reminded me why they are so great. Reading 'Radio Boy' I felt like I was 11 again, curled up in a nook in the school library (I'm romanticising, my school library did not have reading nooks) and loving every page of Spike's adventure.
Spike is instantly likeable as your average Year 7 kid: he's not in with the in-crowd but he has friends, he's not a fan of homework, his older sister annoys him and his often over-protective mum regularly asks about his toilet habits. Spike inevitably gets caught up in the hype of his alter-ego Radio Boy, and the way in which he deals with the inevitable fall out is entertaining and perhaps quite predictable. I don't mean that to sound negative - honestly. The aim of great MG books is surely to help guide pre-teens and 'Radio Boy' does a great job of reminding them how to develop and protect their friendships.
'Radio Boy' is both funny and inspirational, reminding the reader that if they work hard enough any dream can come true. Would I read a sequel? Definitely.

Overall: 4/5
Writing: 5/5 (Hilarious!)
Cover: 4/5
Story Setting: 4/5
Appealing: 5/5

My first impression of this book title was associated with Danielle Joseph's "Shrinking Violet", with related concept of having a POV character who has a secret identity as a popular DJ, while himself/herself is unpopular or bullied in school. "Radio Boy" turned out, to my surprise, to be a fun read even though the concept is pretty similar. Both are unpopular in school but have close friends, both are talented DJs, both used their new identity to hold events against the school and both have supporting parents. What makes "Radio Boy" stands out was the writing style. I loved it! The amusing thoughts of our dear POV character were beyond hilarious, was I that humorous when I was younger?

Some parts of the story were a bit dramatic (a year without homework as a reward?), but overall the story was good. Loving parents (at first only dad, but still) are a key to Radio Boy's success, and supporting friends are another key. Young readers can see the importance of friendship, of family, and perhaps find encouragement to chase their dreams and make the most of their talents and passion, since that the sense of achievement is truly one of the best reward and feeling one can ever have in our whole lives.

I felt this was a really good book and really engaged with the three lead characters. The story was very well written and flowed nicely. It is quite a long book aimed at children but keeps them interested throughout with lots going on which children can relate to in one way or another.

I have to admit that I had never heard of Radio One DJ Christian O'Connell before this book popped up for review on Netgalley so I didn't have any preconceptions about this book. I found it difficult to get into the story at the beginning, the characters are a bit two dimensional and for the target market it might be a bit too slow to get going perhaps in terms of plot. Once Radio Boy started 'broadcasting' though it totally switched up a gear and I found myself laughing out aloud at the swagger of the main character, the choice of records 'played' by his friend and the sheer joy of the 'rebellion' that the broadcast spreads.

I will be getting this book for my school library and recommending it to fans of Stephen Butler's The Diary of Dennis the Menace series and Pamela Butchart's Baby Aliens Stole My Teacher.

Honest review in return for an advance copy via Netgalley

Radio Boy is the story of Spike, an eleven year old boy who isn't clever or sporty or popular. In fact there is only one thing in life he's really any good at: radio. Of course his talent isn't appreciated by the local hospital radio station where he has a show - in fact they sack him - but when he starts a show from his dad's shed (using the name 'Radio Boy' and a fancy piece of technology which disguises his voice) he becomes an overnight success. Partly because he is a bright and funny kid but mostly because he just can't resist using his anonymity to mock the school headmaster. He has lots of help with the show from his best mates - Holly the tech-geek and Artie, who seems to be the youngest muso in town and has a vinyl collection I really envy - as well as his Dad and at least one teacher but success does eventually go to his head. He's 11 - of course it does!

This is a funny and fast-paced story suitable for children 9/10+. If they like music, technology or radio even better but this is, in the end, a story about a group of friends tackling what they see as injustice. Spike is our main character but he has to learn to take Artie and Holly into account since his action affect them too - there are some lessons learned by the end of the book (but not in a dull, moralising kind of way). I'm sure Spike and his friends will be just as entertaining in their next planned adventure.

This is a light-hearted look at that awkward tween stage when children are now finding more is expected of them, yet they are not yet accorded the status of teenager. It’s a difficult age. O’Donnell clearly has a ringside seat onto the kinds of insecurities and difficulties that beset this age-group, which I think he deals with really well. Spike is a thoroughly engaging protagonist and his first person viewpoint is peppered with his amusing take on the world, without him being knowing. I also like his two best friends, who are also completely convincing.

Spike’s parents are also enjoyable. All too often, most adults are portrayed as dribbling idiots or froth-mouthed tyrants in fiction for this age-group, but Spike’s father’s yearning for his lost opportunity to be a rock star and Spike’s mother’s over-protectiveness, brought on by working in a hospital come across as both amusing, yet with an undertow of poignancy. I also liked the fact that Spike has a very supportive, understanding teacher, who goes out on a limb to help him.

The story rackets along in Spike’s viewpoint and I read it in one greedy gulp as the situation steadily gets increasingly out of control. Any niggles? Yes – the headteacher of St Brenda’s is straight out of a comic with his tyrannical attitude, outright favouritism of his own son and screaming meltdowns. He isn’t remotely convincing and jars in a story where everyone else has a strong streak of reality. I do realise that O’Donnell is playing it for laughs, but I do wish he had reined in the farcical aspect just a bit. If Mr Harris had resorted to half the capers he is supposed to have got up to, he would have lost his job. That said, I am conscious that I’m not the target audience.

However, this story still has far more going for it than that one criticism and I shall be reading it to my granddaughter in due course, who I hope will be sniggering alongside me. In the meantime, if you are searching for a funny, entertaining book for a newly independent reader, then this one comes recommended.

While I obtained the arc of Radio Boy from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
8/10

Very entertaining, interesting premise - great children's book. Read this to my 8 year old and he enjoyed it a lot.