Superkid in Training

Gr 2–5—Daniel doesn't get along with his younger brother, so he is not happy when he suddenly has to share his room with him. Iggy breaks his toys, cries at night, and tries to eat everything. The latter is exceptionally problematic when Daniel's new friend Alistair, an alien scientist, comes to visit and Iggy downs all of his specimens and becomes covered in the substance Alistair uses to extract DNA from the bugs. In a "Spiderman"-like twist, these insects cause myriad mutations in Iggy. When an attention-seeking, ill-mannered classmate comes over and fiddles with a space-aged monster transmuting watch, it will be up to Iggy and his new talents to save them all. A perfect science fiction book for beginning chapter-book readers, this story takes a familiar superhero riff and gives it its own twist. Readers with big families and small houses will sympathize with the constant compromises and difficulties of sharing a room, and a house, with younger siblings. The plot moves slowly in the beginning, making this a poor choice for reluctant readers despite the high-interest plot. For advanced beginning readers, the length and appropriate content make it a good choice. The black-and-white cartoons serve to break up the pages.—Devin Burritt, Wells Public Library, ME