Kid Normal

April 9, 2018
In this tongue-in-cheek middle grade adventure, a kid without superpowers nevertheless discovers his true calling when he’s accidentally enrolled in a secret school for superhumans. Eleven-year-old Murph Cooper doesn’t have high hopes for the school, his fifth one in as many years thanks to his mother’s many work-related moves. It doesn’t help when he’s the only normal human in a place where people can fly, control weather, move at super-speed, and summon tiny horses (not every power, or Capability—“Cape” for short—is a winner). Murph unexpectedly makes friends with some of the school’s other misfits, which comes in handy when a bizarre villain attacks the school and captures everyone else. Now only Murph and his friends can save the day. This lighthearted caper from BBC radio stars James and Smith is packed with dry wit, snarky narrative asides, and an unabashed eschewing of subtlety (the school’s headmaster, a former superhero, is Mr. Souperman). Salcedo’s playfully frenetic illustrations complement James and Smith’s silly adventure and its good-natured sense of wonder. Ages 8–12.

April 1, 2018
James and Smith show how an unassuming boy can save the day: with equal parts heart and oddball jokes.Murph is a quiet 11-year-old tired of moving from place to place with his chronically underemployed mother. There's no room in this new town's public schools for Murph, but a chance encounter with an unusually muscled administrator scores him a spot in a school curiously named The School. Murph soon learns that The School is only for children with Capes, or Capabilities, the modern term for superpowers. He's allowed to stay on despite his total lack thereof, making friends with other marginalized kids including Nellie, quiet but powerful, and Mary, who flies using an umbrella. Supervillain Nektar is the absurd but menacing result of a lab accident involving wasp DNA; he is aided by his unctuous henchperson. The lengthy (300-plus pages) story is mostly carried by the goofy humor, including direct appeals to readers to shout things like "I AM THE KING OF THE PINEAPPLE PEOPLE" and other absurdist touches. The humor sometimes tips over into mean-spirited, as in the case of the motley cast of bullies depicted as ugly or fat. Brown-skinned Nellie and Asian Billy are two of the very few characters of color as depicted in Salcedo's illustrations.Funny but flawed, this meandering adventure is an addition to the current crop of not-quite-superhero titles for middle graders. (Adventure. 8-13)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.