Sidekicked

Andrew Bean might be a part of h.e.r.o., a secret organization for the training of superhero sidekicks, but that doesn't mean that life is all leaping tall buildings in single bounds. First, there's Drew's power: Possessed of super senses - his hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell are the most powerful on the planet - he's literally the most sensitive kid in school. There's his superhero mentor, a former legend who now spends more time straddling barstools than fighting crime. And then there's his best friend, Jenna - their friendship would be complicated enough if she weren't able to throw a Volkswagen the length of a city block. Add in trying to keep his sidekick life a secret from everyone, including his parents, and the truth is clear: Middle school is a drag even with superpowers. But this is all before a supervillain long thought dead returns to the city of Justicia, superheroes begin disappearing at an alarming rate, and Drew's two identities threaten to crash head-on into each other. Drew has always found it pretty easy to separate right from wrong, good from evil. It's what a superhero does. But what happens when that line starts to disappear?

Michael Morn might be a villain, but he's really not a bad guy. When you live in New Liberty, known as the City without a Super, there are only two kinds of people: those who turn to crime and those who suffer. Michael and his adoptive father spend their days building boxes-special devices with mysterious abilities-which they sell to the mob at a price. With Michael's "gift" and his dad's ingenuity, they find a way to get by. They provide for each other, they look out for each other, and they'd never betray each other. In a city torn apart by the divide between the rich and the poor, the moral and the immoral, this is as much of a family as Michael could ever hope for. But then a Super comes to town, a mysterious blue streak in the sky known only as the Comet, and Michael's world is thrown into disarray. The Comet could destroy everything Michael and his dad have built, the safe and secure life they've made for themselves. And now Michael and his father face a choice: to hold tight to their life or to let it unravel. John David Anderson, author of the ac-claimed Sidekicked, has written another story set in a world where superheroes and supervillains are everywhere but where the line between right and wrong, good and evil, is no less elusive.