The Extraordinaries

March 15, 2020
A fanboy's dream becomes reality in this queer, romantic superhero story. Nova City's resident superhero, Shadow Star, fights his archnemesis, Pyro Storm, and Nick Bell is only a bit obsessed with (and maybe enamored of) him, as evidenced by his extensive fan fiction in which Shadow Star continually rescues Nick's alter ego, Nate Belen. Nick knows that saving the city has a price, a lesson learned from his police officer father and his mother, who died in a bank robbery two years ago. When Shadow Star foils an attempted mugging, saving Nick and his friend Gibby, Nick nearly makes a complete fool of himself but snags a picture and an autograph that comes with a personalized note mentioning the surname Nick definitely did not tell his hero. Nick, who is white, is a rising junior with pronounced ADHD, and his character is sympathetic and charmingly hapless in the best of ways; readers will root for him to realize all the truths right under his nose, not least of which is his own worth. Nick's best friend of nearly 10 years, Seth, is a pale, chubby, bisexual boy with thick glasses and baggy clothes. Gibby is a butch black lesbian; along with her girlfriend, they complete their circle of outcast friends. Klune plays with superhero genre tropes and fan-fiction clich�s with the skill of a true fan--completely aware of their ridiculousness but in love with them anyway. Hilarious, sweet, and absolutely super! (Fantasy. 14-18)

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March 23, 2020
In Nova City, Nick Bell is an apparently ordinary high school student whose megacrush on local superhero Shadow Star leads him into wild stunts in a quest for his own superpowers. Though at first he only wants the stunts to bring him to Shadow Star’s attention, his motivations shift when a battle between Shadow Star and his nemesis, Pyro Storm, injures Nick’s police officer father, who is all he has left after the death of his mother two years earlier. Nick’s ADHD and almost comical optimism combine to make a charming and entertaining hero, and his equally amusing circle of inclusive friends is supportive of his emotional excesses. Though his strict but supportive father does his best to keep Nick out of trouble, the teen finds a way to put himself in the path of danger as his hero and Pyro Storm’s feud comes to a head. There’s plenty in this lighthearted, superhero-interested teen dramedy for kids who feel like they’re sometimes on the outside, including the positive representation of a teen with ADHD. Ages 13–up. Agent: Deidre Knight, the Knight Agency.

March 15, 2020
Grades 9-12 Openly queer 16-year-old Nick Bell has a humongous crush on Shadow Star, Nova City's very own Extraordinary (superhero). But every hero has to have a nemesis, and Shadow Star's is Pyro Storm. Both are fixtures in Nick's perfervid fan fiction. Sadly, in real life, he has never met the two Extraordinaries?until he does, and things change dramatically. In the meantime, he hangs with his friends Seth, Gibby, and Jazz, all of whom identify as queer. Nick dreams of becoming an Extraordinary himself so that he can pair up with Shadow Star. But wait! There's more. Though very close, Nick's relationship with his father is tested by his ADHD. And speaking of relationships, could Nick and Seth's friendship be turning into something more? Klune's romp is irresistibly readable, although there are a few flaws: Nick sometimes seems more like 8 than 16 and is sometimes not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's always lovable, as are his friends. A good thing, too, because, there's going to be a sequel. Readers will be delighted!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2020

Gr 9 Up-Nick Bell is an active member of the Extraordinaries fandom, writing lengthy fan fiction pairing an original character that is obviously based on him with Nova City's resident superhero, Shadow Star. Nick's dad, a cop whose wife was killed in a bank robbery, wants nothing more for Nick than him staying out of trouble-a challenge that, given Nick's ADHD, proves difficult. Shadow Star is Nick's biggest crush, but he is also a bit conflicted: Owen, Nick's ex as well as the son of the Burke Pharmaceuticals CEO, is constantly around, and Seth, Nick's BFF, suddenly seems more attractive than ever before. Nick is convinced that if he can become an Extraordinary, he can ensure his father's safety and get Shadow Star to fall in love with him. Chance encounters with Shadow Star and his nemesis, Pyro Storm, force Nick to question his dogmatic beliefs about good vs. evil. Nick's ADHD manifests in his overt focus on details, while he ignores the glaringly obvious big picture. He's shocked by the book's twist, but some readers will be way ahead of him. Others, though, will appreciate the laugh-out-loud humor and well-developed supporting characters. Klune takes cues from Peter Milligan's classic queer comic Enigma, with an Everyman bewildered by the superhero story that seems to revolve around him. A post-credits scene, clearly inspired by the trend in movies, hints at a sequel. VERDICT Hand to teens involved in fandom, writers of fan fiction, lovers of superhero stories, and queer romance readers.-Shira Pilarski, Farmington Community Library, MI

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