How to Save a Superhero
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Ten-year-old Addie knows that Superheroes aren't real, and that they certainly don't hide out in retirement communities, but she may just have to change her mind.
Addie and her mom never stay in one place too long. They've been up and down and all around the country. When her mom, Tish, gets a new job at Happy Valley Village Retirement Community in Pennsylvania, Addie believes they'll be on the road again in a month. But this time, something is different--make that, someone. Mr. Norris, a grumpy resident of Happy Valley and. . .a former superhero?
Well, that's what Marwa, whose mom also works at Happy Valley, would try and have Addie believe. Addie and her friend Dickson know better even if there are things they can't explain. Like the time Mr. Norris was about to get hit by a car and was suddenly on the other side of the road or the way his stare seems to take root in Addie's stomach.
When a man starts prowling the Happy Valley grounds, claiming to be the great-nephew of a resident, Addie, Marwa, and Dickson soon stumble into a grand conspiracy involving the Manhattan Project, a shady weapons company, and the fate of the human race, in this smart, funny middle grade novel.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After her beloved grandmother dies, map-making fifth grader Adelaide "Addie" Munroe and her capricious single mother Tish, who are cued white, leave Granny Lu's house in Mount Repose, Maine, to move in with Nice Uncle Tim and his family in Pennsylvania. Now at her 11th school due to frequent moving, Addie spends most of her time at Happy Valley Village Retirement Community, where Tish has a monthlong probationary period as a new companion. Soon, Addie meets mysterious, grumpy Mr. Norris, a new resident with remarkable skills: he allegedly swims like a "hurricane," can easily lift hundred-pound weights, and emits coughs strong enough to blow people off their feet. Addie and her two new friends—WWE-obsessed, seemingly white Dickson and cheerful recent Iraqi emigrant Marwa, whose mothers also work at Happy Valley—wonder whether Mr. Norris is a superhero. Trying to find out the truth, especially after an overly friendly journalist starts asking questions about him, leads to trouble, wild escapades, and a thrilling climax. Featuring a cast whose distinct personalities are clearly built out, Freeman's imaginative, suspenseful, and well-paced novel of intergenerational friendship will keep readers guessing. Ages 8–12.