If You Could Have a Superpower

by Deborah Duncan, Rebecca Bender (Illustrator)

Overview

If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose? Super strength? Super speed? The ability to talk to animals? When nine-year-old Mitch Clarke is asked this by his Aunt Evie, he knows right away-invisible flying! But what he doesn't know is that he has actually just chosen a superpower that he will have for the next two years, and this has happened in his family for generations.

With his newfound abilities, Mitch goes flying around his school and neighbourhood in Hamilton, Ontario. Soon discovering he can also shrink, he has fun using his power to explore the inside of Lego creations. However, Mitch quickly discovers that having powers means you find out about other people's secrets and problems-like the new kid in his class who is living in a shelter. With support from his Aunt Evie, Mitch vows to use his superpower for good, and in the process learns that helping others might be the most powerful ability of all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781525585999
Publisher:	FriesenPress
Publication date:	08/04/2021
Pages:	186
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.51(d)
Age Range:	7 - 11 Years

About the Author

Deborah Duncan has spent her entire adult life helping others find joy in books and reading: first as a teacher and then as a children's librarian and dyslexia tutor. This love of books is reflected in If You Could Have a Superpower, where her characters discover and enjoy such classic children's book as Treasure Island and Charlotte's Web.

Deborah usually lives in Langley, B.C., but is currently based in her second home of Hamilton, Ontario, where her novel is set. Wherever she is, Deborah always has her two dogs with her and stays in close contact with her four adult children. If You Could Have a Superpower is Deborah's first children's novel, but she has also co-written two collections of puppet plays for children.

Editorial Reviews

2021-06-25
A boy uses his superpowers to help others in Duncan’s children’s book.

After 9-year-old Mitch’s aunt Evie asks, “If you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?,” he develops the ability to turn invisible and fly while leaving his physical body behind, like an astral projection. Using these powers, he witnesses a boy named Kyle steal a pencil case from a classmate. He soon finds out that Kyle stole it as a gift for his sad sister, and that his family lives in a shelter, on the run from his abusive father. Mitch befriends the troubled boy, and Mitch’s family grows close to Kyle’s mom and sister, as well. Although Kyle still faces challenges—he’s often absent from school, thinks about running away, and has dyslexia—his new friendship makes him feel more comfortable. Mitch continues to use his powers, keeping them hidden from everyone except Aunt Evie, who reveals that superpowers are a family trait (she communicated with animals at his age) that he’ll eventually outgrow. He notes that “maybe other kids needed help, too,” including a boy named Kenny, who’s orphaned and living with an ill-equipped uncle. As Mitch’s powers wane, he channels energy into his friendships, reading books, crafting stories, volunteering at a dog rescue, and other activities. Although Mitch’s circumstance is fantastical, it serves as a fine metaphor for how everyone can all use their unique abilities in order to help others in need. Duncan presents several portrayals of empathy and kindness that readers will find uplifting. The author also nicely models caring friendships and tight family bonds; the sense of solidarity between Aunt Evie and Mitch, for example, is particularly heartening. Although the tale is told mainly from Mitch’s viewpoint, it’s interspersed with italicized segments that effectively provide flashes of backstory and insight from others’ perspectives, including Kyle and Kenny. Bender’s colorful illustrations of various characters and events appear throughout; the chapter headings, in particular, seem to cleverly draw inspiration from comic books, with their bold black text and bright yellow shapes.

A compassionate superhero tale that highlights ways to help others.

Kirkus Reviews