Audience: 8-12 years
Review by Sarah Bihn (she/her)
MLIS Student, Kent State University iSchool
After having been returned by six different foster families, Logan Foster does not expect to like–or be liked by–his newest foster family. Yet there is something about Gil and Margie, despite Gil’s horrible puns and Margie’s even worse cooking, that clicks with Logan. Whether it’s because they are secretly superheroes, or because they genuinely seem to care about him, Logan can’t quite decide. Of course, Logan isn’t supposed to know that they are superheroes, but with a brain like his, there is little he can’t figure out. And when explanations about why Gil and Margie are out all hours, never seem to eat, and the pretty intense security around the garage all fall short, Logan begins to wonder. However, when they go out to see a movie for “family time,” the truth really comes out when they are attacked by Gil and Margie’s arch-nemesis. Before his eyes, Logan witnesses his foster parents transform into their superhero selves, and he suddenly finds himself in the center of a battle between heroes and villains. With all the heroes on the west coast disappearing, it might be up to Logan to not only save his new family but to save the world. No pressure for a twelve-year-old genius.
Shawn Peters crafts a world and unlikely hero that many readers will be able to relate to and recognize. Logan is just a kid–even though he has an eidetic memory–who wants little in life, and expects the worst from his foster experiences. While potential parents seem earnest at first, Logan’s love for reciting facts, and frank nature often see him being returned to the orphanage. Despite being a book about superheroes, Peters’s writing is a realistic assessment of what the foster experience is like for many children over a certain age. While they might not have to deal with supervillains, they do have to struggle with bullying in new schools, moving into new houses with new families, and navigating the social hierarchies in group homes. Logan’s experiences resonate from the page, and into reality.