HERO.COM: RISE OF THE HEROES (#1)
by Andy Briggs
Walker Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780802795038
Ages 10-14
272 pages
• About the Book
• Read an Excerpt
• Author Interview –– May 2009
Toby, Pete, Lorna and Emily are average kids playing on the computer during a stormy day. When lightning strikes the telephone wires outside their house, the computer gives them access to a strange website called Hero.com. Thinking it must be an online game, Toby clicks on one of the icons and discovers he has super-sticky powers that allow him to walk up walls. His best friend Pete becomes the human torch and almost sets the house on fire.
Initially the kids try out their superpowers fighting crime. They thwart a bank robbery perpetrated by supervillain Doc Tempest. Planning to use the money to fund his plans for world domination, Doc Tempest uses his powers of weather control to swoop down on their house in the form of a tornado. He abducts Toby and Lorna’s mother to exact his revenge and lure the young heroes to his icy lair.
With their mother’s life hanging in the balance, the heroes realize that what began as a game has become more serious. Using the mysterious powers downloaded from the website, they must work together to rescue their mother and try to save the world.
Written with humor and a focus on action over violence, author Andy Briggs pokes fun at superhero themes while adding new twists to the genre. For example, Hero.com’s downloaded superpowers are limited and wear out after a few hours. Additional powers must be earned through heroic deeds or purchased for a price.
Likewise, the icons representing the superpowers on the website are difficult to decipher, often resulting in mistakes. Imagine downloading X-ray Vision when you wanted Laser Vision. Or finding that your superpower allows you to do nothing more than shoot flies out of your mouth.
The reader learns about Hero.com’s powers, rules and limitations at the same time as the young heroes in the book. They embark on their adventures with little knowledge of their powers and no formal training. It is only late in the book that they meet a “prime” called Chameleon who helps them complete their mission. Chameleon was born with superpowers. Primes are the naturally gifted individuals who provide the models for the website’s powers.
RISE OF THE HEROES also deals with the temptations that come with power. Pete imagines using his superpowers to beat up school bullies, but ultimately finds that his heroic activities have given him the confidence to avoid a fight. He also imagines keeping the money from the bank robbery for his parents, who are always fighting about money.
The potential to use the powers for good or evil is a theme explored more broadly in Hero.com’s companion series, Villain.net. The books are also represented online with a website, www.heroorvillainbooks.com, where readers can take a hero or villain quiz and invent their own superheroes.
Both Hero.com and the more sinister companion, Villain.net, offer an engaging and action-packed new series for young readers. Based on the simple premise of ordinary kids suddenly possessing superpowers, these books will appeal to anyone who enjoys superhero comics, cartoons or movies.
--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood
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