My Gym Teacher Is an Alien Overlord

May 1, 2016
In this sequel to My Brother is a Superhero (2015), it's up to totally ordinary 11-year-old Luke to save the planet.When Zorbon the Decider handed out superpowers in the last book, the white boy was taking a bathroom break, so his brother became Star Guy, and then his Asian-American friend, Lara Lee, became Dark Flutter (who can command small, cute animals). Luke's been left out twice. When his mom takes away his Xbox, Luke resorts to visiting the comic-book store that had been run by the previous book's villain, who swears he's now on the side of good. Luke decides to count on that pledge when he's transported to an enormous spaceship and learns that extraterrestrials who run a continuous reality show intend their next episode to be the destruction of Earth. Possibly even worse, they've all taken on the appearance of his gym teacher, Miss Dunham. However, Luke's real problem is that he has discovered a weakness in Star Guy's defenses, but Star Guy won't listen to him. Can Luke figure out how to save Earth with only his wits? Solomons never lets up on the humor; readers will laugh out loud, as the book uses every superhero cliche imaginable. In a slightly meta and very funny turn, Luke takes advantage of them: his encyclopedic knowledge of comic books gives him a strategic edge over the ETs.Wildly funny. (Adventure. 8-12)

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June 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-In this sequel to My Brother Is a Superhero, Luke is still a regular person, while his brother, Star Guy, and his neighbor Dark Flutter have superpowers and are busy saving people from catastrophes. Luke and his friend Serge desperately want to be part of their team, but their plea is summarily dismissed by the two heroes. Serge's mother refuses to let him be around Luke, so Luke is stuck playing Puny Earthlings, the video game based on Star Guy's adventures, with his currently out-of-work father. At school, Luke and Serge, neither of whom has any athletic ability, are convinced their gym teacher is an evil alien. Their idea is confirmed when Luke beats Puny Earthlings and is transported to the game's mother ship, which looks remarkably like his school. There he is met with an endless number of his whistle-wielding gym teacher. These aliens want to take over the universe; they've already captured several planets, and Earth is next. It's up to Luke to save the world. He can't do it alone, and the only person who can help him is the evil comic book store owner, Christopher Talbot. The plot is much more complicated and harder to follow than that of the first book. While the characters stay true to themselves, the story doesn't flow as well and there is not nearly as much humor. Readers should be familiar with the first novel before jumping into this sequel. VERDICT Give this to fans of the first installment.-Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC

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