Do you believe in black holes, wormholes, wrinkles in time? Are you interested in space travel and alien encounters that lead to amazing adventures? If not, do not open this book. If yes, get ready for a fun-filled adventure to thrill your imagination.
Fifth-graders Hawk and his best friend Matt are fascinated by outer space and its mysteries. They even have their very own space-club. Little do the boys know that they are about to get a closer look at other galaxies and universes beyond their wildest imaginations. A radio left behind by Hawk’s grandfather opens a wormhole to outerspace – one through which the two fifth-graders are transported to a planetoid in a far-off galaxy. But can our heroes defeat the Boogers from Boogernaut and learn how to deal with their own bully at school? Stay tuned to Black Hole Radio!
“Black Hole Radio also sucks readers in and doesn’t let go until the story ends. The vivid descriptions will keep kids and adults entertained. [It] fuels the imagination, while also imparting an important message. It seems that even advanced intelligent alien races can be bullies and even enslave those living on other planets. Friendship, peace, and acceptance are the themes in Black Hole Radio [and] to always follow your passion and believe in yourself.”
— Entrada Publishing Review
Targeted Age Group:: 8-11
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I heard a strange and eerie beeping sound coming from my garage. It was beeping at the same time everyday. I finally found it in a box of things in our deceased great uncles belongings. But no matter what we did the beeping continued and it sparked my imagination and this series.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I had a vision of 2 friends of different cultures, (1 white , 1 BiPOC) with different personalities who would get sucked into a wormhole radio and end up on a planet that neither one of them was familiar with. How would these young people adapt and fit in to these new societal rules and structures.
Book Sample
Everyone in my grade five class is super excited right now because it’s Friday, 3:14 in the afternoon and we’re all counting the seconds. One minute to go before the weekend starts! Mrs. Bupkiss tries to remind us about our math assignment, but no one is paying attention. Everyone is ready to run out the door. Matt is coming over for a sleepover in ‘Mission Control’ and we’re going to watch a new episode of our favorite show, Star Trekkers.
The bell rings and we all crash out the door. I stumble out into the hallway looking for Matt, at the same time trying to avoid bumping into Big Mikey. That’s something I don’t need right now; a run in with the class bully. He’s been after me all week to pay him some cookie money. I’m not going to do it. What would my Grandpa say? He’d tell me to stand up to this bully. But Grandpa’s not around anymore and I still can’t believe it. I get sad whenever I think about him. He died a month ago but I haven’t really cried or anything. What is wrong with me? I just want to go home and sleep all weekend. My mom thinks I’ve been sleeping too much lately, so she arranged for Matt to come over tonight and get me back into my space club stuff.
"Hey, dude!" Matt yells as we link fingers, do an interlocked fist pump, and then click our rings together for our secret space club handshake. We both have a National Space Agency (NSA) club ring. It’s guaranteed to be anti-alien with ultrasonic sound and reflectors. So cool! We ordered them from the back of my favorite magazine, Spaced Out.
“This is going to be great!” Matt says, grabbing his backpack and pulling his hoodie up over his wild afro. “I can’t wait to see the Star Trekkers hitch a ride on Halley’s Comet to wipe out the devilish dust bunnies of Nebula.”
“Ya!” I reply, “The last episode was so epic when they rounded up the mad mutant Martians from Venus.”
“Right! But why were they from Venus if they’re Martians?” Matt asks me again.
Oh, brother. Matt is not the best at figuring out plot twists.
“Because they mutated, remember?” I say patiently.
“Oh, right. That was so…so… Out There!” he says pointing up to the sky.
The school bullies, like Big Mikey, call us super cosmo-nerds. But I prefer “Astro-geniuses”, thank you very much.
Guess I got that from my Grandpa, who was the original Astro-genius. He taught me many things, but the most important was that the more we explore outer space, the more we can appreciate Planet Earth. Billions of planets, moons and stars in the universe, but none as special as our blue planet. Not to mention, no ice cream, no TV, no…
“C’mon Hawk!” Matt shouts, pulling me out of my thoughts, “Let’s blast off!” he continues, as we head for our clubhouse.
“OK, let’s go, Bud.” Matt’s good at cheering me up.
We’re at ground zero, ‘Mission Control’; actually it’s my dad’s old tool shed that’s connected to our garage. It’s totally cool inside with lots of posters of planets, an old computer, buttons and knobs on the wall, and glow-in-the-dark stars for a super-cool effect at night. And the ‘piece de resistance’ (that means the best part) is a real telescope for scanning the Milky Way for UFOs. It’s my Grandpa’s old telescope; he gave it to me when we started the club. He always said he had a special connection to the cosmos and that I was a chip off the old asteroid … in other words, just like him. He had promised to share something important with me when I was old enough, but he never got the chance. I wish I knew what he wanted to tell me.
“C’mon, Hawk, let’s get the TV out here! It’s almost time to watch Star Trekkers!” Matt shrieks, helping me to carry the TV from the garage.
I think he’s had too much moon pie and rocket candies, but I’m glad he’s here, I’m feeling better already. “OK, OK. Pass the rocket candies over here, Matt.” I say taking a big slurp of my favorite drink, cola and milk.
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Author Bio:
Ann Birdgenaw is a librarian in an elementary school and always wanted to write a book of her own. She was inspired to write this story by a strange beeping coming from a box in her garage. When COVID-19 hit Canada and everyone was in quarantine or lock down, she had lots of time to imagine being sucked through a wormhole to other planets and what wonderful things she might find there.
Ann lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with her family and two morkies: Bilbo and Sheba.
