Johnny and the Bomb
The interesting thing about worrying about things, thought Johnny Maxwell, was the way there was always something new to worry about. (JB)
When you looked at Yo-less you might think he had possibilities. He was black. Technically. But he never said 'Yo', and only said 'check it out' in the supermarket, and the only person he ever called a mother was his mother. Yo-less said it was racial stereotyping to say all black kids acted like that but, however you looked at it, Yo-less had been born with a defective cool. Trainspotters were cooler than Yo-less. If you gave Yo-less a baseball cap he'd put it on the right way round. (JB)
…Wobbler wasn’t even a nerd. He wanted to be a nerd but they wouldn’t let him join. He had a Nerd Pride badge and he messed around with computers. What Wobbler wanted was to be a kid in milk-bottle-bottom glasses and a deformed anorak, who could write amazing software and be a millionaire by the time he was twenty, but he’d probably settle for just being someone whose computer didn’t keep smelling of burning plastic every time he touched it. (JB)
You could show Bigmac some sort of horrible equation and he’d say ‘x=2.75’ and he’d be right. But he never knew why. ‘It’s just what it is,’ he’d say. And that was no good. Knowing the answers wasn’t what Maths was about. Maths was about showing how you worked them out, even if you got them wrong. (JB)
... if you go mad, do you know you've gone mad? If you don't, how do you know you're not mad? (JB)
… you think you’re going to have a normal day and suddenly you’re in charge of a trolley with one squeaky wheel and an insane cat. (JB)
… she was so organized that she had too much organization for one person and it overflowed in every direction. (JB)
Johnny had been on a school visit once, to a sort of theme park that showed you what things had been like in the all-purpose Olden Days. It had been quite interesting, although everyone had been careful not to show it, because if you weren't careful they'd sneak education up on you while your guard was down. (JB)
‘This isn’t magic, is it?’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Johhny. ‘It’s probably just very, very, very strange science.’
‘Oh, good,’ said Yo-Less. ‘Er …. What’s the difference?’ (JB)
Wobbler didn’t know how to fight, but he did know how to weigh. (JB)
People can start laughing for all sorts of reasons. But sometimes they laugh because, against all expectations, they’re still alive and have a mouth left to laugh with. (JB)
Bigmac and Wobbler weren’t in trouble, if only because there had been so much trouble just recently that there was, for a while, no more to get into. (JB)
‘I hope they get counselling?’
‘We found out about that,’ said Bigmac’s voice. ‘They get a nice cup of tea and told to cheer up because it could be worse.’
‘That’s all?’
‘Well … there’s biscuits too.’ (JB)
She's totally around the bend. But perhaps she gets a better view from there. (JB)
'It’s not being ill at all. If lots of bad things have happened to you it’s healthy to be depressed,’ said Johnny. ‘That’s sense, isn’t it? What with the business going down the drain, and Dad pushing off, and Mum just sitting around smoking all the time and everything. I mean, going around smiling and saying, “Oh, it’s not so bad” – that would be mental.' (JB)
When you looked at Yo-less you might think he had possibilities. He was black. Technically. But he never said 'Yo', and only said 'check it out' in the supermarket, and the only person he ever called a mother was his mother. Yo-less said it was racial stereotyping to say all black kids acted like that but, however you looked at it, Yo-less had been born with a defective cool. Trainspotters were cooler than Yo-less. If you gave Yo-less a baseball cap he'd put it on the right way round. (JB)
…Wobbler wasn’t even a nerd. He wanted to be a nerd but they wouldn’t let him join. He had a Nerd Pride badge and he messed around with computers. What Wobbler wanted was to be a kid in milk-bottle-bottom glasses and a deformed anorak, who could write amazing software and be a millionaire by the time he was twenty, but he’d probably settle for just being someone whose computer didn’t keep smelling of burning plastic every time he touched it. (JB)
You could show Bigmac some sort of horrible equation and he’d say ‘x=2.75’ and he’d be right. But he never knew why. ‘It’s just what it is,’ he’d say. And that was no good. Knowing the answers wasn’t what Maths was about. Maths was about showing how you worked them out, even if you got them wrong. (JB)
... if you go mad, do you know you've gone mad? If you don't, how do you know you're not mad? (JB)
… you think you’re going to have a normal day and suddenly you’re in charge of a trolley with one squeaky wheel and an insane cat. (JB)
… she was so organized that she had too much organization for one person and it overflowed in every direction. (JB)
Johnny had been on a school visit once, to a sort of theme park that showed you what things had been like in the all-purpose Olden Days. It had been quite interesting, although everyone had been careful not to show it, because if you weren't careful they'd sneak education up on you while your guard was down. (JB)
‘This isn’t magic, is it?’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Johhny. ‘It’s probably just very, very, very strange science.’
‘Oh, good,’ said Yo-Less. ‘Er …. What’s the difference?’ (JB)
Wobbler didn’t know how to fight, but he did know how to weigh. (JB)
People can start laughing for all sorts of reasons. But sometimes they laugh because, against all expectations, they’re still alive and have a mouth left to laugh with. (JB)
Bigmac and Wobbler weren’t in trouble, if only because there had been so much trouble just recently that there was, for a while, no more to get into. (JB)
‘I hope they get counselling?’
‘We found out about that,’ said Bigmac’s voice. ‘They get a nice cup of tea and told to cheer up because it could be worse.’
‘That’s all?’
‘Well … there’s biscuits too.’ (JB)
She's totally around the bend. But perhaps she gets a better view from there. (JB)
'It’s not being ill at all. If lots of bad things have happened to you it’s healthy to be depressed,’ said Johnny. ‘That’s sense, isn’t it? What with the business going down the drain, and Dad pushing off, and Mum just sitting around smoking all the time and everything. I mean, going around smiling and saying, “Oh, it’s not so bad” – that would be mental.' (JB)