Hero Worship

by Christopher E. Long

Overview

Marvin Maywood only wants one thing in life—to join the heroes of the Core. But he can’t follow his dream because his powers are fed by fear, which is against the Core’s standards. So he lives on the streets and watches the elite team of costumed crime fighters from afar. After Marvin performs an illegal act of heroism, he meets Roisin, one of the Core’s heroes, and it seems like his chance to join the team has finally come. As she guides him through his tryout, he starts investigating some strange happenings within the Core. And when Marvin realizes that the idyllic hero life he imagined is a mask for the ugly reality lurking beneath it, he becomes caught in a corrupt web of secrets, lies, and death.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738739090
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	01/08/2014
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	HL740L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Christopher E. Long (Southern California) has written comic books for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, and Image Comics. His articles and short stories have been published in a variety of magazines, including Flaunt, Spinetingler Magazine, and Thuglit. Hero Worship is his debut young adult novel.|

Christopher E. Long (Southern California) has written comic books for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, IDW Publishing, and Image Comics. His articles and short stories have been published in a variety of magazines, including Flaunt, Spinetingler Magazine, and Thuglit. Hero Worship is his debut young adult novel.

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Editorial Reviews

"Loaded with action and moral ambiguity, this is a classic superhero story with noir sensibilities." —Booklist

"This is a superhero story for the post-punk era: Live fast, die young, and take over the world." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

02/01/2014
Gr 8 Up—In a future filled with superheroes, there are two classes: the elite members of the Core, whose powers are "clean," and the likes of Marvin and his friends, whose powers are "dirty" and therefore do not warrant official recognition by the Core. Marvin's power feeds on fear; he taps into the emotion of those around him and gains super strength. He's able to save a family being held at knifepoint by a gang of teens, but has to disappear afterward so that he is not recognized. The teen soon meets Eliza, a Core member whose alter ego is a superhero named Roisin. Marvin is starstruck and flattered that the great Roisin takes an interest in him. She even encourages him to try out for Core membership. This is a debut YA novel for Long, who writes for Marvel, DC, and Image comics. The writing is better suited to comics than traditional stories: the characters and situations feel a bit one-dimensional, situations often lack explanation and fleshing out, and the plot lags in a few spots. The main characters are not likable: Marvin is a worrier and Eliza is nasty. In one particularly disturbing scene, Eliza physically forces herself upon Marvin, coercing him into non-consensual sex. The protagonist moves on with little reaction and Eliza's motivation is not explored. Kids who get to the last 50 pages of the book will be rewarded when the pace picks up; Marvin comes into his own, and the plotlines start to make sense and build to a relatively satisfying conclusion.—Amy Cheney, Alameda County Library, San Leandro, CA

School Library Journal

2013-10-20
This is a superhero story for the post-punk era: Live fast, die young, and take over the world. Unfortunately, it feels like a book with several chapters missing. In one scene, Marvin is training to join The Core, an elite group of superpowered heroes, and then, within a few dozen pages, he's the most wanted criminal in the entire city. Characters sleep together and then try to kill each other. It's hard to fault a book for being too exciting or having too many surprises, but this is the rare fantasy novel that could use a few more blocks of plot exposition. One of the biggest secrets in the book is revealed offstage, between the last chapter and the epilogue. The novel has the same fast pacing, actually, as an early superhero comic, although older comic-book fans may be shocked at the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll packed into a 264-page story. One character has the power to send a person into an altered state, and she has a steady stream of customers looking for a fix. Another is a Paris Hilton–esque socialite who hardly bothers with a secret identity--perhaps it would slow down her lifestyle. While these characters might not be patient enough to read a 264-page book, they're so memorable that readers might wish their story could have lasted a little longer, at least another chapter or two. (Adventure. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews