About the Author:
Wesley King lives in suburban Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, where he spends most of his time in imagined universes of superpowered children, dying stars, and dystopian fantasy realms. This is his first novel.
Review:
FROM VOYA, Starred Review:
"King brilliantly combines teenage points of view and emotions with comic book excitement in this superbly composed tale of superheroes and super villains. Readers get to know each of the five teens through their distinctive voices and personalities and can easily follow their motivations as they struggle to make the impossible decision of how to use their newfound powers. There is nonstop action as the teens learn how to use their powers with and against their villain mentors that will keep readers engaged and excited throughout the book. This is an excellent addition to any library serving teens, as it will appeal to reluctant readers with its fast-paced action, and almost all teen readers will love the comic book feel of this book."
FROM SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL:
"[King's] teens are vivid, funny, and relatable, but their growth never comes at the expense of story or plot development. Add in descriptions of cool weaponry and superpowers, a healthy dose of clever one-liners and snappy dialogue, and plenty of chases and explosions, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a hit series that teens will love. King is definitely an author to watch."
FROM BOOKLIST:
"Here’s a debut that will knock middle-grade superhero fans on their butts. In a fresh twist, five ordinary teens are recruited to learn superhuman powers—by the villains . . . By minimizing the numbing action scenes so common to this sort of book and focusing instead upon the interplay of the witty, appealing kids, King deepens the reader’s experience by turning each character—yes, even the Torturer!—into more than the typical black-and-white placeholder . . . kids are going to gobble this up."
FROM HORN BOOK:
"With the Vindico characters’ backstories, King grays the line between good and evil even further . . . he never loses his knack for humorous—and teen-friendly—dialogue, e.g., “If you turn a bunch of kids into supervillains, you can’t expect them to follow the rules.”"
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