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Oom
This story is about a ten year old boy called Joe who lives on a farm in Australia miles from anywhere. He is an ordinary intelligent boy, but is more troubled than most by some of the Big Questions in life, such as "why are we here?" and "why am I me and not someone else?". On the farm, months of drought are taking their toll on the sheep and his weary parents. Joe meets a stranger from another world called Oom who knows how to help them, but it is Joe who has to do the real work of convincing his father to try something new. And then Oom isn't visiting Earth to top up his tan! His real reason for being here blows Joe's mind and will forever change his way of looking at the world and the human race. But that doesn't mean there is nothing Joe can do to help his alien friend.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
180 pages, Paperback
First published November 19, 2009
2 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
D.J. Webber
2 books9 followersDavid Webber was born in Kent, England in 1977. From ages 3 to 11 he lived in "Foxhole", a tiny hamlet in Seven Sisters Country Park, East Sussex where his step-father was a ranger. The "Seven Sisters" cliffs have appeared many times in the movies, for example in the opening act of "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves". David and the other "Foxhole" children ran a small museum in a nearby barn where they exhibited various curiosities. Among their collection were the skulls of badgers, foxes and sheep. They even had a coypu skull. They also exhibited local fossils and one rusty man-trap. They charged entrance at 10p for adults and 5p for children, one summer making over £60.
Between the ages of 11 and 18 he lived in the picturesque village of Alfriston with two women - his mother and older sister. After that he moved to Cardiff, Wales to study Philosophy where he lived in squalour with 8 other male students. They had mice in the cupboards and the occasional slug wandered into the kitchen from outside.
Whilst studying Philosophy David excelled in Predicate Logic so he decided to take a Masters in Computer Science. He graduated around the time of the Dotcom boom and moved to London to work. He was later posted in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on a big government project. Surreally, he lived in a hotel and spent every waking hour with ten Swedish colleagues, and a geordie named Gary Binns. One of the Swedes, Viktoria, became his wife!
They didn't marry straight away - they went on a round the world trip, spending time in New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. This was when he wrote the first draft of his book, "Oom". Oom, incidentally, is based on stories told to him by his father many years before.
He has lived in Sweden with Viktoria since 2003. The have one son, Elias, who is 2, and are expecting a baby in January.
David now earns a living programming for a big Internet company based in Stockholm. His programming skills played a large part in helping him to complete Oom - he created his own specialised word processor program called "Novello" (He is currently giving this product away free at http://novello.sourceforge.net). He became disillusioned with Microsoft Word when could not keep track of all the little edits he had to make to the manuscript.
David welcomes emails from readers to davew1977@yahoo.co.uk
Between the ages of 11 and 18 he lived in the picturesque village of Alfriston with two women - his mother and older sister. After that he moved to Cardiff, Wales to study Philosophy where he lived in squalour with 8 other male students. They had mice in the cupboards and the occasional slug wandered into the kitchen from outside.
Whilst studying Philosophy David excelled in Predicate Logic so he decided to take a Masters in Computer Science. He graduated around the time of the Dotcom boom and moved to London to work. He was later posted in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on a big government project. Surreally, he lived in a hotel and spent every waking hour with ten Swedish colleagues, and a geordie named Gary Binns. One of the Swedes, Viktoria, became his wife!
They didn't marry straight away - they went on a round the world trip, spending time in New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. This was when he wrote the first draft of his book, "Oom". Oom, incidentally, is based on stories told to him by his father many years before.
He has lived in Sweden with Viktoria since 2003. The have one son, Elias, who is 2, and are expecting a baby in January.
David now earns a living programming for a big Internet company based in Stockholm. His programming skills played a large part in helping him to complete Oom - he created his own specialised word processor program called "Novello" (He is currently giving this product away free at http://novello.sourceforge.net). He became disillusioned with Microsoft Word when could not keep track of all the little edits he had to make to the manuscript.
David welcomes emails from readers to davew1977@yahoo.co.uk
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 4, 2009
I ordered this book for my 10 year old son for Christmas, (mainly attracted by the eye-catching cover), and it looked so intriguing I just had to read it myself! I imagine it would be a challenging read for some 10 year olds as there are some complicated ideas to grasp; older children would definitely find it rewarding too. The story was gripping, imaginative and very different from anything I've read before, either as a child or an adult. I think my son will identify with the main boy character and desperately wish that, he too, could meet an "Oom"! All in all, a great, distinctive story and a most satisfying read.
December 30, 2024
My mom found this book and I had to read it. Oom is my maiden name. It was a good read and kept my interest piqued. I read it non stop and completed it in under 3 hours.
December 19, 2009
Atmospheric and with real tension, the story has all the ingredients to keep a young reader enthralled. I especially liked the mix of style: sometimes colloquial, sometimes philosophical, always gripping, never condescending. I definitely recommend this book - great for reading with your 10 year old but good for grown ups too.
December 21, 2009
A wonderful story that really makes you think about whether or not there is life on planets other than our own. A book that readers of all ages will be able to relate to.
January 3, 2010
I enjoyed this story. It was engaging and entertaining. An intriguing blend of psychology, philosophy, and science fiction. A nice feel good book!
May 24, 2020
Oom.....a creature from a distant planet sent on a mission to save Ascension. A place in the Australian Outback where existed a rancher and spouse with a son. The son is given a way to secure his family's property. The alien advises the son on what must be done to save his family's ranch. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
September 2, 2012
This is a rather charming Young Adult tale with a ten-year-old protagonist and an alien.
Joe Hills lives on a farm in Australia. There is a drought. The sheep are dying, and his family does not have the money needed to do anything about it. They are literally a day away from losing the farm when they get help from a very strange visitor. Enter Oom, an alien whose people consider this particular chunk of land something close to sacred for reasons not entirely clear to them or to us (until the end), but it has to do with ‘Ascension.’ Oom helps Joe’s family find water and save the farm. He befriends Joe and helps him understand more about himself and the universe.
One thing I especially liked about this book is that it doesn’t treat kids that might read it as ‘children,’ that is, incapable of thinking. There is a bit of philosophy, value lessons, a bit of science, and a lot of encouragement to consider big questions about life, the universe, and everything.
There are flaws, though. The prose is a bit choppy, amateurish in places (at least to my American ear), especially in the beginning, and it gets off to a slow start. There are numerous punctuation errors, especially the frequent omission of commas after introductory clauses, to set off participle phrases, and between independent clauses joined by a conjunction. (I’m basing this point on the Chicago Manual of Style, which is, of course, the American standard for fiction. I’m not familiar with the style guide that would apply in Australia.) There were also several formatting problems with the Kindle edition. These are hardly critical problems and do not detract from enjoyment of the story.
As a YA book, I liked this overall. It’s a good story with interesting and likeable characters. It could use a little bit of rework and editing, though.
Joe Hills lives on a farm in Australia. There is a drought. The sheep are dying, and his family does not have the money needed to do anything about it. They are literally a day away from losing the farm when they get help from a very strange visitor. Enter Oom, an alien whose people consider this particular chunk of land something close to sacred for reasons not entirely clear to them or to us (until the end), but it has to do with ‘Ascension.’ Oom helps Joe’s family find water and save the farm. He befriends Joe and helps him understand more about himself and the universe.
One thing I especially liked about this book is that it doesn’t treat kids that might read it as ‘children,’ that is, incapable of thinking. There is a bit of philosophy, value lessons, a bit of science, and a lot of encouragement to consider big questions about life, the universe, and everything.
There are flaws, though. The prose is a bit choppy, amateurish in places (at least to my American ear), especially in the beginning, and it gets off to a slow start. There are numerous punctuation errors, especially the frequent omission of commas after introductory clauses, to set off participle phrases, and between independent clauses joined by a conjunction. (I’m basing this point on the Chicago Manual of Style, which is, of course, the American standard for fiction. I’m not familiar with the style guide that would apply in Australia.) There were also several formatting problems with the Kindle edition. These are hardly critical problems and do not detract from enjoyment of the story.
As a YA book, I liked this overall. It’s a good story with interesting and likeable characters. It could use a little bit of rework and editing, though.
March 1, 2010
A boy (Joe Hills) and an Alien (Oom, from the planet Llevro) meet on a drought-ridden farm in the Australian Outback. Oom is in exile from his home planet, come to Earth to commune with those of a Higher Order (than humans? Blue Whales, maybe?) Joe Hills is a curious boy..intrigued by the Big Questions of life..which makes him an Exile, of sorts. Together they find water to save the Hills' farm from foreclosure..and dastardly neighbors. this could be characterized as "ET-with-Philosophy", since it touches on issues such as Multiculturalism, Save The Whales, "Is there life beyond Earth?"..the Big Questions..dealt with in a timely, non-patronizing manner.
Of course there are Caricatures...and a cameo by a pair of "Scully & Mulder" wannbes. George W Bush shows up at his manic, Patriotic "best"...but the whales steal the show..seriously. Who knew that they were the wiser species on this Earth? Not I.
I had my doubts about this book, at first, but came away with a good read. The presentation of ideas was clever and non-didactic. Might just give the YA audience some food-for-thought. My only quibble was the Editing. Could have been tighter...reined in the story's rambling a bit more.
All in all, a good, thought-provoking story. Won't set the world on fire but can start a slow-burn, nonetheless
Of course there are Caricatures...and a cameo by a pair of "Scully & Mulder" wannbes. George W Bush shows up at his manic, Patriotic "best"...but the whales steal the show..seriously. Who knew that they were the wiser species on this Earth? Not I.
I had my doubts about this book, at first, but came away with a good read. The presentation of ideas was clever and non-didactic. Might just give the YA audience some food-for-thought. My only quibble was the Editing. Could have been tighter...reined in the story's rambling a bit more.
All in all, a good, thought-provoking story. Won't set the world on fire but can start a slow-burn, nonetheless
Read
January 28, 2010Set in the dry Australian grasslands, "Oom" uses an original take on the boy-meets-alien storyline to provide an intriguing look at humanity from the outside.
When Oom, an alien exiled from his home planet, appears to Joe, the ten year old son of an Australian farmer, everything changes. Joe's family face the prospect of having to sell their drought crippled farm to their arrogant and self-righteous neighbours. Oom knows the farmland intimately by another name, "Ascension", and tells Joe of a secret that could save the farm.
But Oom is not visiting Earth to make contact with humans. His higher purpose is to seek the wisdom of, and be judged by, another species entirely. These telepathic creatures have been intricately connected with Oom's people for millennia, remotely acting as their supreme leaders.
Through their philosophical discussions, Joe and Oom become close friends. Later, Joe accompanies Oom for two important meetings. Firstly, Oom indulges humanity's curiosity and agrees to meet with the US president. The second meeting is infinitely more profound and changes Oom's life forever.
When Oom, an alien exiled from his home planet, appears to Joe, the ten year old son of an Australian farmer, everything changes. Joe's family face the prospect of having to sell their drought crippled farm to their arrogant and self-righteous neighbours. Oom knows the farmland intimately by another name, "Ascension", and tells Joe of a secret that could save the farm.
But Oom is not visiting Earth to make contact with humans. His higher purpose is to seek the wisdom of, and be judged by, another species entirely. These telepathic creatures have been intricately connected with Oom's people for millennia, remotely acting as their supreme leaders.
Through their philosophical discussions, Joe and Oom become close friends. Later, Joe accompanies Oom for two important meetings. Firstly, Oom indulges humanity's curiosity and agrees to meet with the US president. The second meeting is infinitely more profound and changes Oom's life forever.
March 7, 2010
I did not realize that this book was classified as young adult, but nevertheless it was enjoyable on a basic level. The characters were somewhat one-dimensional and the dialogue was just too simple, but the story had some redeeming value similar to other sci-fi in that it requires that humans take a look at themselves and what they think is important and compare it to what values may exist in another world. Man is a fallen creature and his self-centeredness is his most significant feature. What if this species were more like, say whales, intelligent, peaceful, and communicative, but with no ego so large they desire to dominate the planet on which they live. Though we may like to think we are the most intelligent species, who is to judge what intelligence is if all of creation is considered.
August 24, 2022
Jim has always lived on Flat Farm, but now a drought has his parents selling it.
Flat Farm is ‘Ascension’ a special place for the Ormeans of Llevro. Oom befriends Jim to help him and is family ‘The Keepers of Ascension’ to find water and keep from selling Flat Farm. When an angry neighbor causes trouble for Jim, will Oom risk punishment and possible expulsion from Llevro to help his new friend?
I have heard it said that God created Australia and New Zealand last, because of the beauty of the land and the variety of animals. I think it is true. I love the way this author describes the land. Drought is always prominent in Australia. This book has captured my attention, I wish a friendly alien would come to help me!
Flat Farm is ‘Ascension’ a special place for the Ormeans of Llevro. Oom befriends Jim to help him and is family ‘The Keepers of Ascension’ to find water and keep from selling Flat Farm. When an angry neighbor causes trouble for Jim, will Oom risk punishment and possible expulsion from Llevro to help his new friend?
I have heard it said that God created Australia and New Zealand last, because of the beauty of the land and the variety of animals. I think it is true. I love the way this author describes the land. Drought is always prominent in Australia. This book has captured my attention, I wish a friendly alien would come to help me!
January 19, 2010
This is a book that I was excited to receive from Good Reads...but then sad when I started reading it. This reminds me a of a poorly written story that I would have read while in my Creative Writing class critiquing others. Dull, uneventful, and not something that I would recommend to others - especially young adults that already have a hard time keeping their attention on one things. It couldn't keep mine and I can read a book in one sitting! A sad thing for me that I didn't enjoy this freebie from Good Reads!
May 10, 2010
Oom, a smart, kind creature from the planet of Llevro has been sent to Earth for a reason unknown to him. As he waits to find out the reason for his adventure, he befriends Joe. Together, they exchange stories of their home planets while awaiting the meeting that will change Oom forever.
When I started reading OOM, it was a little slow, but it quickly picked up and made me want to read all the time. The story was very original and the unforeseeable twists and turns were enjoyable. For me, all of Joe's questions and Oom's answers were the best part.
When I started reading OOM, it was a little slow, but it quickly picked up and made me want to read all the time. The story was very original and the unforeseeable twists and turns were enjoyable. For me, all of Joe's questions and Oom's answers were the best part.
Want to read
January 1, 2010I won this book on First-reads
December 18, 2011
I think Oom was an incredible book and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Science Fiction. D.J Webber has written an impressive story that will keep you wanting to read more.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews