Shawn Peters

Two Sentence Summary: Logan Foster's "prospective parents" are kind, but also kinda weird with their unexplained disappearances, lack of cooking skills, and secrets. Once their true superhero identities are revealed, Logan must find out if he can save both the world and his new family.

The author did a great job of mixing an action packed story with a heartfelt message. Logan is a very likable character. Since he is neurodivergent, he tends to be very literal and always says what's on his mind. To get that point across, the author sometimes writes what Logan says exactly the same as what he thought it in the sentence before. If that's not done well, it would have been bad writing, but because it was a part of who Logan is as a character, it was wonderfully written.

LibraryThing* Rating: 5 Stars - I can see why it was nominated as a Caudill

Book Lady** Rating: 4 Stars - I love superheroes, but this story was definitely for the younger targeted audience

I liked…
- The unique superhero powers
- The way the author portrayed how literal/logical Logan was
- The message about family

I disliked…
Nothing :)

Content: Clean - Note: there is a disturbing but not gory death

Recommended for middle schoolers (and up) who like superhero stories with a big heart behind it.

*LibraryThing rating takes into consideration the intended audience’s comprehension and interests.
**Book Lady Rating is what I would give it if I based it on my personal preference and likes/dislikes… (més)

This adorable book is about Logan Foster who is eleven years old and has been in an orphanage and transferred in and out of multiple foster homes since he can remember. He also has a photographic memory and will sometimes "spit out" random fun facts. Logan feels that it is because of his photographic memory that he keeps getting kicked out of foster homes, until one couple becomes Logan's foster parents. The only catch is, Logan is pretty sure that they are superheroes. I would recommend this book to third-fifth graders. This age group would work best because they are old enough to comprehend the foster care system but also young enough to enjoy the content for what it is.… (més)

Recommended Ages: Gr. 4-6

Plot Summary: Logan has been living in the orphanage for nine years so he's used to having another chance at prospective parents meeting him and even occasionally bringing him to their home for a short bit. But he's never had a meeting end with a life-threatening lava flow. He saves Ms. Kondrat by using information stored in his brain with his eidetic memory but he thinks about what might have happened to the prospective parents. When they suddenly show up a few days later and want to do an in home trial, he expects to be back at the orphanage a few days later. In his new neighborhood right under to the airport runway, he meets a neighbor Elena, who surprisingly actually talks to him and even supports him with the neighborhood bully. Logan starts noticing things that are very strange with his prospective parents and he's shocked to learn at the movie theatre that his prospective parents are actually superheroes who are being attacked by the same villain who is creating earthquakes and that giant lava flow. Why would superheroes try to adopt someone, especially someone like Logan? Will Logan, Gil, and Margie defeat evil Seismyxer?

Setting: Santa Monica

Characters:
Logan Foster - 12 yo, 9th grader cuz skipped 2 grades, has eidetic memory (he remembers everything he's ever seen or read), diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder at 5 yo, autism at 9 yo, asks tons of questions
Mal - bully at the orphanage that Logan likes to mess with by asking him lots of questions
Ms. Kondrat - over 40 yo, upset about being single, runs the orphanage, quit 4 different times
Gil - AKA Ultraquantum, can just materialize, can shoot force beams, move at a speeds that is almost invisible, and rearrange his atoms to look like he's wearing clothes, doesn't eat or wear actual clothes
Margie - AKA Quicksilver Siren, has telepathy powers
Elena Arguello - 15 yo, new neighbor
Seismyxer - bad guy with superpowers who is creating earthquakes

Recurring Themes: orphan, siblings, heroes, superheroes, bad guys, adoption, eidetic memory, autism, survival

Controversial Issues:
doesn't actually say bad words but says things like "holy blank, except the blank was actually a bad word that I don't want to say"

Personal Thoughts: I slogged through this book because it wasn't character driven, but those that like superheroes will certainly enjoy it. There's a few exciting fights and lots of explanation that made it slow for me. A few plot points wrap up at the end up of the book but a few are still left open for another book.

Genre: fantasy

Pacing: medium, despite lots of action there is also a decent amount of explaining
Characters: not character driven, but each character is still known for something
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity:… (més)

Abandoned as a very young child, Logan has been in so many foster homes that he is surprised when at age eleven, a very unique Margie and Gil want to adopt him. He was a nerdy, awkward kid with a photographic memory. He had no friends except a neighbor girl, who is pretty incredible. She prevented other kids from bullying him.
Margie and Gil were very peculiar parents but they were really trying. Logan was finding it difficult to get close to them. He wanted to do more traditional things together like a real family. Little did he know by going to a movie together, the comic book superpowers would come to life!
This fast-paced story starts off fairly normal then grows steadily more incredible. The characters are very well portrayed and the scenes are easily visualized. There is humor and captivatingly intense moments many will relate with, plus, adventure and a world of fantasy. It has a great lead-in to the next book of the series.
The cover depicts the story well and is very eye-catching. The title is very "fitting" as well.… (més)