The Stupendous Switcheroo

July 17, 2023
After a boy wakes up one morning to discover that he’s telekinetic, he sheds his everyday persona and adopts the pseudonym Switcheroo. He’s determined to join the ranks of local heroes such as Vin Valor, a tech genius who leads a team of crime-fighting supers, but his robot nanny Al insists that Switcheroo consult his mother before embarking on any superpowered adventures. With his mom on a top-secret work trip, however, who knows how long he’ll have to wait? Giving Al the slip, Switcheroo dons a makeshift costume and pursues evil-doers, until he’s recruited by Vin Valor himself to help capture blob villain Lou Ooze. Switcheroo is finally on the road to becoming a bona fide superhero, but when he wakes up the next day, his telekinesis is gone, replaced by a new ability to speak with cats, in an Imogene’s Antlers–esque twist. Even worse, he finds out his mom has gone missing from her trip. While the innovative gadgets and superpowers that populate this madcap series starter by Heider (The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy) and Sell (the Doodleville series) are surprising and amusing, the story’s true heart comes from Switheroo’s struggles navigating family and friendship dynamics, and learning to trust himself. Ages 8–12.

August 1, 2023
A kid with unpredictable superpowers gets a crash course in heroes, villains, and perspective. The book opens as the nameless protagonist/narrator wakes up one day with unexplained powers of telekinesis. Understanding the nature of the ways his powers switch every day--and choosing his superhero name, the Stupendous Switcheroo--comes later, but with his inventor mother gone on an extended trip, he only has to answer to Al, a babysitting robot. When Vin Valor, Switcheroo's favorite superhero, needs a hand, he uses his mom's teleportation technology to leap into action. However, with each passing day, he misses his mom a little more. Switcheroo teams up with Tana, a wunderkind from Vin Valor's organization, to navigate his changing powers, find his mom, and even uncover some dirty secrets about his hero. The story remains fresh through the evolving mystery and seeing how Switcheroo's latest power will come into play in each chapter, especially as he begins to doubt Vin Valor's motives and sympathize with those labeled villains. The interplay between the text and the black-and-white comics panels is seamless. Switcheroo's thoughtful internal monologues and the expressively drawn eyes and costumes demonstrate a deep love and care for this superpowered universe and its denizens. True to serialized superheroics, the next installment is teased at the end. Switcheroo has paper-white skin and black hair; Tana's skin is shaded, and she has Afro-textured hair. A wannabe superhero faces multiple mysteries and tests in this engaging series opener. (Graphic adventure. 8-12)

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