Review by Alex- Dull Boy

Oh dear. It's terrible. Not a post in two weeks. >.< I'm afraid school's just taken over my life as I try to do well and bring up my average. But I'll try to post at least a little more frequently than it has been recently. For now, here's a review:

Dull Boy by Sarah Cross
What do you do if you can deadlift a car, and you spend your nights flying to get away from it all? If you’re fifteen-year-old Avery Pirzwick, you keep that information to yourself. When you’re a former jock turned freak, you can’t afford to let the secret slip.

But then Avery makes some friends who are as extraordinary as he is. He realizes they’re more than just freaks—together, maybe they have a chance to be heroes. First, though, they have to decide whether to trust the mysterious Cherchette, a powerful wouldbe mentor whose remarkable generosity may come at a terrible price.

First Impressions: I love anything to do with teenage superheroes, and superheroes in general, so it should come as no surprise that I was super excited to read Dull Boy.

For the most part, Dull Boy takes fun tone to the whole superhero idea. Avery loves his powers sometimes- he can fly and he's super strong. But with all that, it's hard to control himself. He wants to become a hero, not just a boy with powers. Hence, him being relegated to a school for dangerous kids after trying to stop a bank robbery and failing.

At the school, and at a coffeehouse he frequents, he meets new friends. His old friends abandoned him for the most part, as Avery was constantly trying to find someone to help. (Think Incredidles.) With his new friends, they form a team of superheroes, trying to fight crime together. They laugh, they have fun, they fight and have the usual teen angst... and they beat baddies. Awesome right?

A lot of the book is made up of amusing ideas for the team to be heroes. There's also that Cherchette who's trying to recruit some of them... But there's also some real life issues: friendship, helping others, and believing in yourself to be good.

The climax is this huge action explosion that had me reading until late at night. The Cherchette plotline gets huge and there's lots of really interesting revelations. The ending is very open, and makes me wonder if there will be a sequel... one can only hope.

Final Impressions: Superhero fans rejoice. Sarah Cross delivers an excellent novel of teenagers just trying to fit in and be friends, but while saving to save others and each other. It's not uber-epic bad, where the kids are saving the world, but a lighter and sweeter tone. Just my cuppa tea.

Add to Shelf: I think I may have to. Superheroes!

Note This! I love this. Catherine, one of Avery's friends, and a member of the team, has super balance and claws. I laughed when I made the connection with her name. Catherine... Wolverine... XD