The Super Life of Ben Braver by Marcus Emerson

The Hook:

Ben Braver—is he a superhero?  Or just a plain ol’ regular kid? 

When Ben sees a kid being bullied by his neighbor, Dexter Dunn, he jumps into action to save the kid. Only he’s the one who gets beat up by Dexter and he winds up in the hospital! There he is visited by Donald Kepler—the founder of Kepler Academy, “a secret school for kids with special “abilities” aka superpowers. Mr. Kepler invites Ben to the Academy hinting that Ben may have “abilities” of his own.   

Ben cannot wait to find out what his superpower…uh…I mean “ability” might be when it manifests.  Will he be able to fly?  Teleport? Read minds?  But once he gets to the school, he learns that at Kepler they train their students NOT to use their powers.  Wait….WHAT?!  Why would you not want to use your superpower?   

Ben and his new friends uncover a mystery and you’ll never guess what it could be. Some of the students at Kepler are being replaced by worm-eating doppelgangers.  WHAT is going on here?  You’ll have to read the book to find out. 

This book is in our library.  It is also in Sora as an ebook and audio book.  It is 6 AR points. 

My Thoughts (Careful! There Could Be Spoilers): 

This book is written with little pictures and comics in between text, and it is super hilarious! So, it is great for Reluctant Readers. Plus, it’s the first book in a series of 3, so if your child likes this one, they may want to check out the other 2 also.  

New friends, fire-belching roommate, Noah, and small animal-controlling, Penny are especially fun, and they make a great team with Ben as they try to uncover the mystery. Someone is behind the curriculum to squash the kids' superpowers and turn them into worm-eating zombies. What could be more entertaining to read how all this goes down! I give this book 4.5 stars! 

Recommendations: 

I recommend this book for 4th-7th grade students. This will especially appeal to Reluctant Readers with the side illustrations and punchlines.