Middle school is hard enough without having to deal with inconvenient super (or not so super) powers and sidekick training. Fun book. ( )

Sidekicked is about a boy named Andrew Bean with a few special abilities, living in a world where "Supers" with superpowers are the norm. We learn pretty early on in the book that those with superpowers have many of the same problems as the rest of us in addition to ones that are unique only to them. Andrew Bean tells the story from his perspective, so we see how he deals with the world of middle school as well as the world of "Supers." The story was well written with lots of insight into both worlds. ( )

After reading a review in the NYT's Book Review, I gave this a try. There were some early attempts to draw in middle school readers with teenager talk and throughout by continued references to bad cafeteria food, but the basic plot was good. Crime-fighting "supers" have young sidekicks in training at Justicia's Highview Middle School. Drew Bean's skill as the Sensationalist is hyperacute hearing, smelling, etc., but his mentor, the Titan, is broken and ignores him. His dream girl, Jenna, is matched to the Fox, the darling of the city, until the dreaded Dealer returns for retribution with three of his Jacks. Fun, but intended for ages 8-12. ( )

I haven't read a large amount of middle grade fiction but I must say that I've really enjoyed John David Anderson's writing thus far. Sidekicked was a lot of fun and right after finishing it I added two more of Anderson's books to my TRL. The story revolves around Andrew "Drew" Macon Bean (admittedly a fantastic name) who is not your typical sidekick. His powers aren't the usual 'faster than light speed' or 'stronger than steel'. Nope. (I'm not going to reveal his powers because they are truly unusual and it'll be more fun for you to read it and found out for yourselves.) However, he is a typical nerdy kid just trying to make it through middle school unscathed. There's the usual pre-teen drama about who likes who and fitting in but on top of that is uncertainty about the safety of themselves, their families, and the town. Like Miss Bixby's Last Day, Anderson doesn't shy away from tough subjects. The drawbacks to having superpowers such as having to lie to one's parents, worrying about the mental health of one's mentor (the Super assigned to each Sidekick), and navigating adolescence are dealt with in a very loving, realistic way. Drew is a likable character and I think boys as well as girls will identify with him and become invested in his story. If you have kids in your life who are obsessed with superheroes but are not overly enthusiastic about reading maybe you could suggest that you read this one together. I have a feeling it will be a hit. :-) 9/10 ( )

Side Kicked was about a boy named Andrew Bean with a few special abilities thrown into a world where "Supers" with superpowers are the norm. We learned pretty early on in the book that those with superpowers had many of the same problems as the rest of us as well as others of their own. Andrew Bean told the story from his perspective, so we saw how he dealt with with the world of middle school as well as the world of "Supers." The story was well written with lots of insight into both worlds. ( )