Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero (edition 2012)

I don't usually read YA or children's books so this was something different for me. The simple language distracted me until I realized the author had rather successfully captured the language of a young boy. The tale moved quickly and drew me in.

I quite enjoyed the book and would definitely suggest this for anyone with children. ( )

Mik Murdoch, age nine, lives with his parents on their farm in Cranberry Flats, dreaming of being a superhero. Her has a nemesis (a bully named Lillian), a sidekick (his dog, Krypto), and a whole lot of gumption. Now all he needs are superpowers...

I requested this e-book from LTER because I liked the sound of the premise, and I often enjoy reading children's or YA literature for something light and funny. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the execution. Mik's story is a loosely connected string of stories that run over the course of a chapter or three before moving on to the next episode. The one constant is his desire to be a super hero, which gets him into some scrapes and sometimes stretches credulity with what his (refreshingly loving and normal) parents don't know he's up to. While Mik was a likable enough kid, I had a tough time believing that a nine-year-old wouldn't know what baby formula is while knowing what an acetylene torch is. Finally, the moral of the story was a little to blatantly spelled out for my taste. While the book didn't really do much for me, perhaps it would be better received by its intended audience of 8-9-year-old kids. ( )

I liked the idea of this book and thought I would enjoy it, even though I am not the target audience. However it didn’t quite work.

At the start it seemed that it was going to be an encouraging ‘everybody has different abilities and skills’ type story and I felt that this approach, which can be a bit sickly-sweet, was going well. Since I am an adult the unlikely aspects of the story struck me but it’s a story not real life and I’m sure the target readers won’t notice such finicky details.

My main quibble is that it tries to be both real-life and supernatural adventure. Approximately half-way through the story changes direction. For a child’s story either approach would be good and both parts are well plotted and written, but I don’t feel they fit well into the same story. The author should have written two separate books! ( )

This book sounded much more promising than it actually was. I generally really like young adult fiction, but this book did not hold my interest. I have read books aimed at the same-aged audience as this book that were much more interesting. The premise sounds good - a 9 year old boy genuinely believes (or wants to believe) he is a superhero. What 9 year did not want to be a superhero? Heck, even at 30 I'm talking about my super-Mommy capabilities!

The problem is that there is no cohesive story line or narrative arc other than the 9 year boy believing he is a superhero. Within the book are some touching vignettes about the boy and how he helps his community, but none are that exciting. Additionally, I believe Plested could use the book as a teaching tool about how important it is tell your parents rather than keeping things from them. Unfortunately, I believe that the message is "as long you think you're doing good, hide things from your parents."

I really wanted to like this book, but finally had to put it down due to the aforementioned lack of cohesive story or plot. One seemingly minor thing about the book which, given its subject was actually a big thing, was the author's failure to properly spell Spider-Man. Unfortunately, I think there are many other good books for this age group that I would not recommend this. ( )

Who didn't want to be a superhero when they were a kid? Nine-year-old Mik Murdoch is no exception but he wants this for all the right reasons. He wants to protect his Cranberry Flats, the town he lives in.

Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero is a sweet, kinda funny book which would appeal to most middle graders with its mix of realism and fantasy. Mik is resourceful, smart, and friendly and he and his sidekick and sort of super dog, Krypto make for some fun summer reading. ( )