Hero by Perry Moore
Blurb for the back cover:
“Fabulous (sorry I had to use that word somewhere in here)”
Thom Creed is your typical average teenage boy. He plays basketball, has ranging hormones, has super powers and is gay. Ok, so many one or two of those things aren’t typical. But they’re all there for Thom and that doesn’t make his life easy. His father, a disgraced no-power superhero, hates the heroes who have superpowers and isn’t too fond of homosexuals either. After Thom’s mother mysteriously vanished (hehe) when he was younger, it’s just been him and his dad and things aren’t going well. Things start to turn around though when Thom is recruited in The League to train and learn how to use his unique ability to heal people. He gets assigned to the lowest group of trainees that have a difficult time rising the ranks in The League. But when some of the well known superheroes start getting killed, it’s up to Thom and his teammates to track down the killer behind all this while trying to maintain his relationship with his dad after he comes clean about his superpowers and gayness.
Hero was surprisingly enjoyable. I tend to stay away from gay-teen lit because I find it rather dull and predictable most of the time. This book however is different from the rest of them and is actually interesting. It depicts what it is like to be a superhero in an environment where it might not be acceptable. Sure, superpowers are a clear metaphor for being gay, but it’s a pretty awesome metaphor.
The rest of this cast don’t have the whole gay thing to fall back on as their defining characteristic, so instead they are interesting and quirky. Take for example Ruth, a lady who is much too old to be a superhero, but can see the future. Or Typhoid Larry, who can give people various diseases just by touching them. For the most part their back stories are cover well enough. Some of the smaller bit characters aren’t cover, but you learn enough about them.
In the end, this book is fabulous (sorry I had to use that word somewhere in here) and you should read it if you are a fan of the superhero genre. This book is also being made in to a Showtime series with the help of Stan Lee. You can also check out Perry Moore’s web site.
Second thoughts:
in the teen zone
The YA YA YAS