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Remote Man
Not enjoying the company of others, Ned spends a great deal of his time working on his computer, yet when he finds out that a smuggler is trying to sell an endangered Australian python, Ned gets involved and soon develops a multi-continent communications network with other computer people to track him down.
272 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 2000
5 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Honey
49 books55 followersElizabeth Honey was a weedy child who always seemed to have a sore throat, so her parents didn't send her to school until she was nearly seven. The Honeys lived on a farm in the bush near Wonthaggi, Victoria. There were four kids and Elizabeth was number three. With her younger sister Mary, Elizabeth puzzled over jigsaws, played with the dogs, climbed trees and one way or another did a lot of pretending, on horses or tractors, in dress-ups or with glove puppets, round old trucks, cubbies, dams and hay sheds.
Following Swinburne art school, adventures overseas and a variety of jobs Elizabeth became an illustrator, then also a writer, for children. Her first book, 'Princess Beatrice and the Rotten Robber' was published in 1988.
She lives in Richmond, Melbourne in a house of books: picture books, poetry, art (Matisse particularly) zines and strange books. Fortunately, her retired graphic designer husband is also a bibliophile. They have two grown-up children and a granddaughter in Amsterdam. All her life Elizabeth has zoomed around on her bike - not a lycra rider, just a charging-round-the-place rider - and that vibrant bike city in the Netherlands has become an inspiration. She's also passionate about streets for people not cars, public parkland and place-making, and an abiding passion is habitat for wildlife, for the survival of our unique Australian animals.
Following Swinburne art school, adventures overseas and a variety of jobs Elizabeth became an illustrator, then also a writer, for children. Her first book, 'Princess Beatrice and the Rotten Robber' was published in 1988.
She lives in Richmond, Melbourne in a house of books: picture books, poetry, art (Matisse particularly) zines and strange books. Fortunately, her retired graphic designer husband is also a bibliophile. They have two grown-up children and a granddaughter in Amsterdam. All her life Elizabeth has zoomed around on her bike - not a lycra rider, just a charging-round-the-place rider - and that vibrant bike city in the Netherlands has become an inspiration. She's also passionate about streets for people not cars, public parkland and place-making, and an abiding passion is habitat for wildlife, for the survival of our unique Australian animals.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 21, 2012
How do I fully convey my love for this book? Simply saying it is one of my absolute favourite books in the whole world doesn't seem enough.
So let me tell you a bit about it. The book is about Ned, a thirteen year old boy from Melbourne. He loves snakes, lizards and computers...but not people. But when his mother has a nervous breakdown and depression, he's forced to interact with people - first his crazy cousin Kate in the NT and then Martha B. Sudbury and Rocky the Bear Hunter in Concord, Massachusetts (had to look the spelling of that one up!). One of my absolute favourite things about this book is how Elizabeth Honey handles the portrayal of Janet's depression and Ned's remoteness - it's done in a very realistic and sensitive manner. And seeing how Ned has to deal with his mother's depression is beautifully bittersweet - he feels it's his fault, but also that he's the only one who can look after her properly.
The overarching plot is about an international exotic animal smuggler and Ned and his friends' (who are from Jamacia and France as well as Australia and USA) attempts to catch him. I'm not going to talk about that, because that will become wordy and plot heavy, so instead I'll just throw out some of the random words I associate with the book (and really, when one book has this many exciting words associated with it, you know it must be awesome!).
Adventure, family, friends, animals, bear hunts, car chases, international crime, espionage, secret chat rooms, frying pans, fake websites, travel, exciting stunts, bone collections, NY NY, email, Halloween, cake, dancing, Thanksgiving, smuggling, intrigue.
So let me tell you a bit about it. The book is about Ned, a thirteen year old boy from Melbourne. He loves snakes, lizards and computers...but not people. But when his mother has a nervous breakdown and depression, he's forced to interact with people - first his crazy cousin Kate in the NT and then Martha B. Sudbury and Rocky the Bear Hunter in Concord, Massachusetts (had to look the spelling of that one up!). One of my absolute favourite things about this book is how Elizabeth Honey handles the portrayal of Janet's depression and Ned's remoteness - it's done in a very realistic and sensitive manner. And seeing how Ned has to deal with his mother's depression is beautifully bittersweet - he feels it's his fault, but also that he's the only one who can look after her properly.
The overarching plot is about an international exotic animal smuggler and Ned and his friends' (who are from Jamacia and France as well as Australia and USA) attempts to catch him. I'm not going to talk about that, because that will become wordy and plot heavy, so instead I'll just throw out some of the random words I associate with the book (and really, when one book has this many exciting words associated with it, you know it must be awesome!).
Adventure, family, friends, animals, bear hunts, car chases, international crime, espionage, secret chat rooms, frying pans, fake websites, travel, exciting stunts, bone collections, NY NY, email, Halloween, cake, dancing, Thanksgiving, smuggling, intrigue.
July 22, 2017
Meet Ned Spinner: He's a 13-year-old Australian whose pets include 12 blue-tongue lizards, 2 stumpy tails and 2 Cunningham skinks. His fears include: life without technology, animal extinction and flying frying pans. His hobbies: computer emailing and chatting, calling himself Remote Man. But he's also in charge of a little project he calls Hunting the Hunter in which he is a hacker, committing fraud and identity theft. Just what exactly is Ned up to anyway?
October 5, 2023
Elizabeth Honey will always weave magic, amongst some comforting dashes of the every day.
June 2, 2014
in the remote man theirs this kid who is addicted to computers and like animals a lot. The remote man is a account they do research on plants and diseases. A Ned mother doesn’t like him to get in trouble or do something without letting her mom known. Later on he knows his new neighbor who is the same age as him. Ned and his neighbor becomes very popular and Ned sells animals all over the world then they meet Kate who is a criminal justice. Later on they meet a cowboy next when they investigate him they found out that he steels species and sell them around the world and he gets a lot of money. Ned want to bring him down also Kate which associates with Ned and try to take down the targets that are involved on selling species and getting money from the spices they get or steel. Kate and ned and his neighbor try to get the most famous target which he leave in las vegas but they never catch them.
June 28, 2014
Well, I haven't read this title in about 11 years, but from what I can gather, it was an interesting look at the then-brand-spanking new Internet via the eyes of several young teenagers all connected to this information superhighway. Of course, there's this subplot of "we gotta save the endangered pythons from poachers who make really bad action films" and a lot of the filler that accompanies Ned and Rocky's misadventures in America, but for an early document of teenage interactions on the Internet, it's pretty interesting.
I wish I didn't have $14 in fines from the local library - I'd check that book out in a heartbeat.
I wish I didn't have $14 in fines from the local library - I'd check that book out in a heartbeat.
December 7, 2008
Ned is Remote Man, he can perform computing feats. His mom is a noted plant biologist who flips out one day. While she recuperates Ned stays with his cousins in the Out Back. While there he brushes with a rare animal poacher. As Mom recovers she takes a job based in Massachusetts and moves Ned there where he sees the poacher again! Using technology, chat rooms, internet scams, and sheer guts and international ring of cyber friends go after this criminal. There is a lot of suspense in this realistic mystery adventure.
January 9, 2014
The book Remote Man by Elizabeth Honey is an okay book. It wasn’t very full of action until the end. I liked that the interests of the character connected with the conflict. Also, I liked that all of their conversation in chat rooms are shown. It really shows each character’s personality. I can connect to this book because once at overnight camp my cabin and I tried tracking someone down, but in the book they have a lot of more resources. My favorite part was the action leading to the resolution. All in all, this was a good book that was very interesting.
July 7, 2016
Elizabeth Honey was one of my favourite authors as a kid, and as an adult I am still hunting down those books of hers I haven't read. She writes the Australian version of the Scooby-Doo/Enid Blyton PESKY KIDS TAKE DOWN ADULT CRIMINALS THROUGH CUNNING PLANS genre, and I. love. it. This one is about exotic animal smugglers, and the early days of making friends over the internet, and having your life uprooted, and an unflinching and very Aussie black-humour portrayal of a boy dealing with his mother's depression.
August 14, 2015
Randomly picked this off the shelf just to have something to read.
It’s a little dated, but anything trying to accurately portray computer usage is bound to be as years go by (WebTV? Is that even still at thing?). So it’s important to remember when it was written (2002) for the state of world.
Otherwise it wasn’t that bad. I like the use of grey boxes to show email exchanges and the occasional sketch wasn’t bad to break things up a bit. YA fiction, so it reads fast.
It’s a little dated, but anything trying to accurately portray computer usage is bound to be as years go by (WebTV? Is that even still at thing?). So it’s important to remember when it was written (2002) for the state of world.
Otherwise it wasn’t that bad. I like the use of grey boxes to show email exchanges and the occasional sketch wasn’t bad to break things up a bit. YA fiction, so it reads fast.
December 29, 2013
I got this as a PTA book. I'm reading through the stack left to me so I can make book recommendations to my students.
I found this book charming but I wonder which of my students would enjoy it. It's got a bit of Australian slang which I struggled with in the beginning. I wonder if my students have the stamina to make it through.
In any case, I enjoyed it. I'm hoping to find the right reader.
I found this book charming but I wonder which of my students would enjoy it. It's got a bit of Australian slang which I struggled with in the beginning. I wonder if my students have the stamina to make it through.
In any case, I enjoyed it. I'm hoping to find the right reader.
April 18, 2014
I actually don't remember much from this book - i read it in year 6, we had to read it in class. Well anyways all i remember was that some parts were funny and interesting. I have a copy with me so i might read it again if i ever find the time.
February 4, 2019
I love this book so much. I love these kids just the same even though I’m reading it 20 years older, now, and all the internet stuff is very very dated. What a special book!
April 14, 2014
light reading. for kids. feel good kinda book wen u need a break from intense stuff. and a must read for kids
January 23, 2016
Some crazy kids smash a drug and animal smuggling ring with their combined awesomeness and the power of the internet. Fun read, parts of it wildly implausible.
February 23, 2016
Got half way through and gave up...wasn't engaging to me.
February 25, 2016
Read this many times. A cute story. Less believable as an adult (for obvious reasons) but still a lovely journey.
October 8, 2010
Remote Man by Elizabeth Honey (2004)
December 10, 2013
As for me I am a reptile lover! So this book was a catch!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews