Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad Series #2)

by C. B. Lee

Overview

Bells Broussard thought he had it made when his superpowers manifested early. Being a shapeshifter is awesome. He can change his hair whenever he wants and, if putting on a binder for the day is too much, hes got it covered. But that was before he became the countrys most wanted villain. After discovering a massive cover-up by the Heroes League of Heroes, Bells and his friends Jess, Emma, and Abby set off on a secret mission to find the Resistance. Meanwhile, power-hungry former hero Captain Orion is on the loose with a dangerous serum that renders meta-humans powerless, and a new militarized robotic threat emerges. Sometimes, to do a heros job, you need to be a villain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781945053252
Publisher:	Interlude Press
Publication date:	09/22/2017
Series:	Sidekick Squad Series , #2
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	170,350
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

C.B. Lee is a Lambda Literary Award nominated writer of young adult science fiction and fantasy. Her works include the Sidekick Squad series (Duet Books) and Ben 10 (Boom!). CB loves to write about queer teens, magic, superheroes, and the power of friendship. When not nationally touring as an educator, writer, and activist, CB lives in Los Angeles, where she can neither confirm nor deny being a superhero. You can learn more about her and her adventures as a bisexual disaster at http://cb-lee.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Both the action and the tweaks to typical world-building make this charmingly fresh. VERDICT: A fun choice for action-adventure shelves." —
Francisca Goldsmith, School Library Journal

From the Publisher

01/01/2018
Gr 7–10—In this installment, readers meet Bells and his friends in a future where superpowered heroes and villains are essential aspects of politics as well as American culture. As a shapeshifter, the hero is inducted into the league after years of training in a secret location, only to discover that the battles between villains and heroes is more con job than factual. Lee writes with humor and a sense of lightness that gives buoyancy even to the grim twists and turns of this deception and the vicissitudes of Bells's love life. An element of this futuristic society is that acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities has vastly improved: Bells is trans, one of his older brothers is aromantic, and his friends all present a variation on the identity spectrum that read both realistic and reassuring to readers looking into this future. Pacing presents a problem, however, as time and events move rapidly with sequencing that feels more like a comic book or a movie than a narrative novel. While this is disorienting at first, enough character development and logic are maintained that this becomes less distracting as the story unspools. In addition to truly amicable and delightful peers, Bells also inhabits a world of mostly friendly and capable adults. All in all, both the action and the tweaks to typical world-building make this charmingly fresh. VERDICT A fun choice for action-adventure shelves.—Francisca Goldsmith, Library Ronin, Worcester, MA

School Library Journal