When I was about 8 or 9 or thereabouts, I got this book from one of those Scholastic book orders that elementary schools did back then. I was obsessed with science fiction, aliens, UFOs, etc. So this book about two boys who find a "gizmo" in an alley behind a shopping center and quickly discover that it communicates with alien spacecrafts in the general neighborhood of Earth, became a favorite. I read it several times back in the day.
Going through some old boxes, I found it. Ahhh, nostalgia... childhood memories!
Well. It was a mistake to re-read it as a man in his fifties. Unlike good children's fiction, which an interested adult can enjoy and benefit from reading as well, all the appeal of this book is for the under 12 crowd, and even that hasn't aged well. I doubt even kids into sci-fi and UFOs would have much interest in this rather pointless book today.
Oh well. So much for reliving a wonderful childhood memory. ( )

Two kids who love to tinker with electronics come across an unusual gismo found in the alley behind the radio shop. They plug it in and here voices from outer space. This was my favorite sci-fi read as a kid. ( )