The Return of Meteor Boy?

The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy #2

by William Boniface, Stephen Gilpin (Illustrator)

There's a Secret in Superopolis! Years Ago, a young superhero named Meteor Boy mysteriously vanished during a dangerous mission. But what really happened to him? Could he still be alive? There may be more to the Meteor Boy secret than anybody suspected, and Ordinary Boy knows that the time has come to solve this mystery once and for all! In a city where everyone is extraordinary, this just might be a job for . . . Ordinary Boy.

Genres: Fantasy, Superheroes, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Science Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2007

About the author

William Boniface may or may not exist. Ordinary Boy, after all, tells his own story. Mr. Boniface could simply be a creation of the publisher in order to fulfill the requirement that an author be listed on the cover of this book. Given that possibility, there is no harm in revealing that Mr. Boniface has lent his name to over two dozen far less wordy children's books that were also in need of an author. Unless, of course, he didn't, which would make this entire biography irrelevent.

Reviews

[Corinna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read! We brought this book on spring break with us and my kids would ask for me to read it aloud all the time whenever we had waiting to do - for a restaurant, a bus, a show, whatever. They often prefer their DS or iPod for these times, but not when there was Ordinary Boy to be read aloud! My 7 year old would page through the book on his own and would beg me to read ahead even when his brother wasn't around. My 12 year old would read ahead on his own sometimes, too!

I won't give a summary of the events of this book, but the clever story kept me and my kids riveted, the characters are interesting and often surprising, and while the "science" involved was dubious, my kids (ages 7 and 12) were able to follow along with it. The humor was also effective and enjoyed by all three of us. My older son enjoyed the use of language and puns (especially related to Lord Pincushion) as well.

This is definitely a case in which the sequel is even stronger than the original book. It definitely builds on the first book, too. We are looking forward to what else is in store for Ordinary Boy, and hope this will be a series with many more excellent installments.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ordinary Boy is the only kid without superpowers in Superopolis, but only he can save the town from another plot by the nefarious Dr. Brain Drain – who hasn't let a little thing like his own fiery death stop him from trying to destroy the world. Other things OB finds himself needing to stop include the vain, self-promoting Amazing Indestructo's plan to exploit the memory of his sometime sidekick Meteor Boy, after spending the last 25 years trying to obliterate all memory of the young hero who sacrificed himself to save the city back then.

Also, a team of hippie villains keeps stealing the giant metal cone off the top of OB's uncle's ice cream truck. Also, OB's dad and his team of second-string heroes are trying to set a record for baking the biggest cake ever for the school bake sale, leaving behind a disaster-level mess. Also, OB has one week to invent a time machine for the science fair, in partnership with an annoying, seed-spitting, lisping classmate named Melonhead. And finally, the gym teacher has brought back dodgeball. All of which may spell the end for Ordinary Boy and his friends, Plasma Girl, Halogen Boy, Tadpole and Stench.

This is an often funny, at times thrilling, always entertaining look at growing up in a town where everybody (but you) is super. Many of the supers have really offbeat powers that may actually be more of a hindrance than a help to their lives of heroism, villainy, or just getting by. There's a guy named Pincushion, who keeps a wide range of weapons handy by sticking them through himself. There's the Animator, who brings inanimate objects to life. There's a villain who can turn rainbows solid, a guy who flies around the room like a deflating balloon when he gets a puncture, a hero who always knows which way is north, and even one whose specialty is spreading feelings of gloom (and he, funnily enough, is a good guy). There are also, naturally, a couple of characters whose true loyalties, either for good or evil, prove to be a surprise.

But the biggest surprise of all (unless you have super-brain powers of precognition) is the role O Boy will play in making sure Meteor Boy makes a comeback at the moment when everything depends on him. The discovery he makes puts a touching, yet fittingly goofy, spin on Ordinary Boy's reality and his role in it.

This is the middle book of the "Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy" trilogy, between The Hero Revealed and The Great Powers Outage. Boniface is also the author of numerous children's picture books, many of them focusing on holidays, and of a horse-breeding novel called Studs.

[Dila Sarikaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me jump up and down in my seat. I'm not sure why but it got me excited and I also smiled in the middle of this book. This book showed me that you can do whatever you want without a superpower...which, of course, noe of us humans have.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great time travel plot. It’s a bit predictable when you know about other books with time travel plots, but still great. I love seeing Superopolis in the hippie past. All the adult characters are now crazy teenage hippies.

Ordinary Boy uses a device to increase his powers. It doesn’t work because he has no powers, but then he gets the idea to invent a Time Machine. Okay, I have a theory now. His power is either intelligence or coming up with good ideas. Which is pretty lame compared to turning invisible or being indestructible or even turning into goo. But still a very useful superpower.

A very good middle part. It’s usually hard to write middle parts that are just as good as the other two books in a trilogy, but the author gets it. This book is actually really smart.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of three books was one of the best that I read my son when he was in his elementary school years. It is funny, exciting, has many layers to appeal to all ages. If you are lucky enough to have a child who still likes to be read to I recommend it highly.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to re-read this wonderful series aloud to my children. Different set of children now than the first time, ten years ago, but the books are just as great. Creative and clever, with a tight story, well written, and endearing characters.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, as well as book one, is an excellent adventure story, and exquisitely written. The vocabulary is brilliant and the protagonist is a true unsung hero. Excited for book three!

[Major · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun book that features more fun characters and a time travel plot that was both unique and easy to follow. A real fun read.

[Aurora Dimitre · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun childhood favorite that did hold up over the years.

[Alan Figueroa]

***SPOILER ALERT*** More than 10 years ago a sidekick named Meteor Boy disappeared during a mission against a strong villain. The genre of this book is Fiction. I really enjoyed this book.

25 years ago the biggest superhero "The Amazing Indestructo" had a sidekick named Meteor Boy. Meteor Boy was just a kid when he was a sidekick. The Amazing Indestructo decided to take Meteor Boy to basically the most dangerous mission he has had. During the mission The Amazing Indestructo wasn't able to help save Meteor Boy. No one ever saw Meteor Boy after that day, therefore everyone expected he was dead. Well everyone except Ordinary Boy. Ordinary Boy is a kid that lives in Superopolis where everyone has a power. The only person without a power is Ordinary Boy. One day The Amazing Indestructo decided to hold auditions to see who would "become"
Meteor Boy. Ordinary Boy thought this was odd because AI (Amazing Indestructo) had tried to get everyone to forget about Meteor Boy for 25 years. Now all of a sudden he wants to bring him back. Ordinary Boy and his friends go out and find many clues. The biggest help was the hero Meteor Boy battled when he vanished. He had a time machine. Ordinary Boy went back into the past to 25 years ago. None of the clues were making sense to Ordinary Boy. All until he saw a piece if paper with his signature signing to be The Amazing Indestructo's Sidekick.

I think the title of this book goes with the story because Ordinary Boy was looking for Meteor Boy for so long to then realize he was him all along. There a quote in the story that there it helped me approve that O Boy is Meteor Boy. Ordinary Boy says," When I heard his strangled cry of rage, I knew he had reached the bottom of the page where, twenty five years earlier, I had signed with the name-Ordinary Boy.

I really liked this book because of the plot. I was really surprised that O Boy was Meteor Boy.
I also like how the author was specific about everything in the book and left out no details. I never got bored of reading this book. I think a a huge thing in this story is, even if you have no power you can use your knowledge to figure things out.

I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars. Overall it was a great book. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes an adventure and a mystery. So in this book Ordinary Boy wondered where Meteor Boy could've been all along. Little did he know O Boy has technically been Meteor Boy for 25 years but he is only about 12 years old.

[Crazyturtles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read is called The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy: The Return of Meteor Boy? By: William Boniface. There is a big cast of main characters in this book. All of the main characters are superheros except Ordinary boy. In the Junior Leaguers, the team consists of Ordinary Boy, Plasma Girl, Stench, and Halogen Boy. All of these super heroes live in Superopolis. The main problem in my book is that a famous superhero named The Amazing Indostructo is trying to make money off of his mysteriously vanished kid-sidekick Meteor Boy. Ordinary Boy is mad at The Amazing Indostructo, and tries his best to save the reputation of Meteor Boy in an unexpected way.
The message of this book is that even though you don’t have a power to show on the surface, your most powerful power is how you use your knowledge and help from the people around you. I think the author made this book to have a special meaning about how Ordinary Boy handles his problems living in Superopolis, and living amongst superheroes. In The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy: The return of Meteor Boy? , the author really challenges the main character and the rest of the characters in the book. I would recommend this book to all ages, because it has an incredible story line that will make this book one of your favorites to read.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Superopolis, the town where everyone has a superpower, Ordinary Boy is unique in his lack of powers. But that doesn’t stop him from being part of a team of young heroes: the Junior Leaguers. And now, the Junior Leaguers are on their toughest case of all. Who is Meteor Boy? Can they stop the obnoxious Amazing Indestructo from profiting from his memory? Why has a band of hippie supervillains been robbing Ordinary Boy’s uncle’s ice cream truck? And can Ordinary Boy pull off a science fair project in under a week?

As Ordinary Boy and his friends begin to investigate, they begin to suspect the most shocking thing of all: maybe Meteor Boy is still alive! But if he is, then what happened to him so many years ago?

The first Ordinary Boy book was fun; this one is great. It’s a fun story in an entertaining setting, and when the pieces of the mystery start to come together, it is absolutely brilliant. I also really love the fact that Ordinary Boy doesn’t spend a lot of time whining about his lack of superpowers.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next book.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t that impressed with the first one, The Hero Revealed, but it was good enough that I read the second one. I thought The Return of Meteor Boy? had a stronger, more interesting plot and enjoyed it quite a bit. Ordinary Boy lives in Superopolis, a city where everyone is born with a super power. Well, everyone but him. But since most of the super powers are fairly worthless and most of the citizens are fairly dense, Ordinary Boy holds his own quite well and makes for a good protagonist. He deals with his issues around trying to fit in as the different kid while getting into some pretty good adventures and even saving the day, all while learning more than he wanted to know about the hero he idolizes and the nature of corporate capitalism.

[Aimen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for somebody that loves mystery and adventure books. All of the charasters in this book have superpowers only some have flying or strengh... but there is a boy who doesn't have superpowers. he is always waiting for them.

I think this book is really good because i like how the mystery is solved and nobody expected it. I think the author did a good job writting this book. this book takes place in a town named superopolis.
in this book a boy finds out how a old superhero disappeared in a dangerous mission.There are characters who think he is special but he is very smart.This book is a book where you start reading it and you can't put it down. This book is a good book to start reading if you have nothing to do.

[Gina Weibel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun book. I usually can predict the plot twists before they hit me, but somehow this one snuck up on me and I was pleasantly surprised to be surprised as things unfolded.

The only irksome plot element was when O.Boy was able to use a few household items to build a successful time machine. Sigh. He really loses his status as Ordinary after a stunt like that, and in my mind, makes it harder for us ordinary readers to relate to him. But I had such fun, I'm willing to let it slide.

The fighting scenes were pleasantly low-violence (and pleasantly silly).
No cussing in this book.

[Danielle Routh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I spent Christmas money on this and the the other Ordinary Boy sequel. Yes, I am an adult.

I don't like this one quite as much because it is very OB-centric and doesn't involve his friends as much, but I do love meeting the old heroes like Lord Pincushion, The Animator, and Magnobox. It's also really impressive when an author can write a cohesive time travel story that not only makes sense (difficult enough) but is also satisfying and doesn't require leaps of logic to make it work.

On to the third installment!

2023: There's just a handful of grammatical errors that irritate me, which is very unlike the other books.

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ordinary Boy, the only resident of Superopolis without a super power, investigates the 25-year old disappearance of Meteor Boy, who vanished while battling arch-villain Brain Drain. Young fans of comic books and graphic novels should be intrigued by the cover art and captivated by the intelligent, clever story. Packed with action, humor, countless surprises and plot twists, and even a dose of scientific theory, this second title in the Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy series holds more great fun for upper elementary and middle grade readers.

[Chak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Ordinary Boy series. Just like the first book, "The Hero Revealed," the characters are very well-crafted, smart humor abounds and the plot is engaging. We loved the book. I don't want to give too much away, but because of complexities in the plot, I would highly recommend this book for ages 10 and up. I think it is fine for children 7-9, as long as you're willing to do a LOT of explaining and can deal with a bit of frustration in understanding what is going on.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first one of the series that I read- i accidentally picked up #2, not realizing, but it didn't matter- they are well written enough that you can pick up any of the series and you will completely understand what is going on. Such fun delightful reads.

I REALLY like the fact that the author clearly planned out this series BEFORE writing them. I love it!

[Jennifer Priester · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had some really good surprise twists in it and gets readers caught up with the events that took place in book one really well although it does take away all of the surprises if book one is read after this one rather than before, but I also feel that readers may feel compelled to read book one for more details on the events mentioned from the previous book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ordinary Boy and his friends are back, trying to fight a Super Villain with very little help from the most admired super-heroes. In fact, some of the super powers prevalent in OB's world sound more like freak-show attributes. The plot involves time travel, a giant meteor, dinosaurs, and, of course, potato chips.

[Kevin Sabath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ordinary boy is a book about how this kid has no powers at all. Everyone in his city though, has a superpower. This book is very intense with lots of action and mysterious adventures. To me, there is nothing wrong with this book, (considering it's my favorite book) and I would give it a 5 out of 5 stars rating.

[Noel Ahlers · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun!!!! My 11 year old son loved this entire series and couldn't wait until we would sit down each night to read. We just HAD to get to the library the next morning after we finished one to get the next. An 'ordinary' boy in a town of superheroes? What pre-teen can't relate to that. Fun for my son and fun for me. I loved reading it with him.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second installment in the series is just as fun as the first! This one again contained some fun learning topics with explanations and examples in the subject of science that are tied expertly into the story. And it was so much fun to learn more about Ordinary Boy and Meteor Boy. The way their stories tie together is delightful.

[Theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book because of the comedy. I think that it is really cool because I LOVE Comedy books. I really like this book series because of the characters. In it there is time travel and flying and hilarious villainy, heros, and action.

[Maggie C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good sequel, and the first was enjoyable too. I would definitely recommend to kids about ten, I think. (It's a little hard to judge when so many of the kids I know seem to be reading way above their supposed levels.)

[706ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

could OB possibly be meteor boy, and could meteor boy actually have no real power. well you'll have to read the book. this book kind of shows the collapse of superopolis, they have been hiding secrets and spreading lies.

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even smarter than book 1. I'm amazed by how funny, clever, and yes, smart this book was. The science was truly beyond me. But that's okay! I laughed so much while reading this, and there were a few surprises that I totally didn't see coming. I'm looking forward to book 3.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son and I found this title at a Litte Free Library. We really enjoyed the twisty time travel plot — we liked this book more than the first in the series, in fact. However, the writing is extremely dated, with outmoded gender roles and ableist humor (e.g. calling someone’s movements ‘spastic’).

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a fun book! It's original, creative, and the characters are great.