Powerless tells the story of Daniel, a twelve-year-old boy who has recently moved to a new town, Noble’s Green, so his parents could take care of his very sick grandmother. Even though Daniel thinks being the new kid in town might be the hardest part of the move, he quickly learns it is not. He meets kids around his age and after a near tragic event, learns that they have super powers, such as being able to fly and being able to turn invisible. How could he possibly fit in with these super hero kids when he’s just a regular guy? Daniel learns the rules of being a super hero and also learns that at the age of thirteen, each super hero kid not only loses their super power, but also has absolutely no memory of ever having it. Being a super hero sounds great, but there is more to it. Daniel, a wannabe detective, finds clues that the way in which the super powers are taken away isn’t just from turning thirteen. With that, the adventure begins!


Not only did I choose to read this book because it’s one of this school year’s Illinois school library book award nominees, the Rebecca Caudill award, but also because the cover instantly grabbed me. Don’t judge a book by its cover right? LoL. This book had so much to it, action, adventure, suspense, super powers, and much more that I instantly fell in love with it. The prologue instantly captured my attention. In these first few pages, readers meet Michael, who wakes up in the morning of his thirteenth birthday to realize there are all sorts of drawings around his bedroom of him flying, but he can’t remember anything. It becomes clear that Michael had an ability to fly, but that it has disappeared. The prologue leaves readers wanting to know whether or not Michael will remember being able to fly and why his power ended at the age of thirteen.


A classic super hero type of book, Powerless features “good guys”, “bad guys”, edge of your seat suspense, and lots of plot twists and turns along the way. I started this book one evening and finished it in less than 24 hours because I just couldn’t put it down. I felt like the suspense continued to grow throughout the entire book until there was a major conflict towards the end of the story, making the entire book “good”. There was plenty of action that will keep readers, even reluctant ones, wanting to know what happens to Daniel and his friends. Although this book will be an easy one to sell to guys, especially middle school ones, I don’t think it should just be given to guys because I thoroughly enjoyed it and think middle school girls like it just as much.


The book comes to a nice conclusion, but definitely leads readers to believe there will eventually be a sequel written, or at least I’m hoping there is one.