Customer Reviews

How I Became a Super Hero

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Fans of Dan Greenburg's "Zack Files" series will happily devour books about Maximum Boy, a ten-year old who accidentally becomes a superhero after touching space rocks on a field trip. The books, told in the first person, are fast-paced, full of hyperbole, and engagingly absurd. In this first book, villains kidnap Manhattan by towing it out to sea. Parents will enjoy the matter-of-fact way in which Max's parents react to his superhero status, the short-sighted way in which New York's mayor rejects Max's help, Max's comments on the snooty characters of other superheroes, and a number of other light satirical touches. I might wish that Max's "kryptonite" was something other than mathematics, but kids will enjoy seeing him quivering weak as jelly whenever confronted with a word problem. For young readers who like humor, adventure, and books that are not too long, this series can be addictive.

This book is as bad as some b sci-fi movies. They call them
"killer tomatoes"...
There are just a lot of factual errors like Manhattan is an island
and can't be moved like a boat without breaking apart.
I suppose a lot of this stupid dialog with his parents is supposed to be funny: it is mostly just sad.Maximum Boy is a bust for me as a superhero.

My children are members of the scholastic book club, and received this book as part of their membership. On the cover there is a picture of the statue of liberty with a gag over her mouth, along with a note "for ransom". I am unsure as to the coincidental timing of this book, due to my children receiving it two days after the hijacking of two airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center. Also on page 67 there is a reference to the World Trade Center Towers being wobbly and being afraid that they might topple over. There are also several references on pages 82 and 83 that mention in italics "Air Force One". I am sure the author had no idea that such devastation would happen three months after the release of his book. However, it gives an unsettling feeling after reading the title of the book, seeing the towers on the cover, and reading about Air Force One. I for one feel that this book should not have been mailed to children so soon, after such a horrifying event has taken place.