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Sidekicks
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Batman has Robin, Wonder Woman has Wonder Girl, and Phantom Justice has Bright Boy, a.k.a. Scott Hutchinson, an ordinary schoolkid by day and a superfast, superstrong sidekick by night, fighting loyally next to his hero.
But after an embarrassing incident involving his too-tight spandex costume, plus some signs that Phantom Justice may not be the good guy he pretends to be ...more
But after an embarrassing incident involving his too-tight spandex costume, plus some signs that Phantom Justice may not be the good guy he pretends to be ...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
May 1st 2011
by Harry N. Abrams
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Showing 1-30

This is my surprise love of 2015 so far(meaning something I knew nothing about and had low hopes for), and I doubt if that will change by New Years.
I expected a fun superhero read: I got that.
I expected something lighthearted and kid friendly: I got about 30% of that.
If I had to criticize anything about the book it's be the cover. Not because I dislike it. I love it, as far as art goes. But I think a lot of the people who would love this story will pass it over thinking it's going to be too kidd ...more
I expected a fun superhero read: I got that.
I expected something lighthearted and kid friendly: I got about 30% of that.
If I had to criticize anything about the book it's be the cover. Not because I dislike it. I love it, as far as art goes. But I think a lot of the people who would love this story will pass it over thinking it's going to be too kidd ...more

I loved it! I don't read too many books intended for the under 12 audience. I would never have heard of this one, much less picked it up to read, if not for a fellow GR reader review that caught my attention.
I would categorize this as YA PNR since I know the middle school crowd reads those as well. That way, adults might also take an interest. I barely put the book down once I started reading it. It grabbed me from the very beginning and took me on a whirlwind of action, teenage angst, and betra ...more
I would categorize this as YA PNR since I know the middle school crowd reads those as well. That way, adults might also take an interest. I barely put the book down once I started reading it. It grabbed me from the very beginning and took me on a whirlwind of action, teenage angst, and betra ...more

6-word summary: Shy teen superhero falls for archnemesis.
Summary:After an embarrassing super-sidekick wardrobe malfunction, Bright Boy (a.k.a. student Scott Hutchinson) begins to question the motives of his superhero partner, rethinks an old enemy, and prepares to step out on his own.
The Good: I definitely think the tween set will like this one. It has numerous martial arts fight scenes, criminal masterminds, betrayal, secret identities, and first love. It is easy to read and moves fairly quickl ...more
Summary:After an embarrassing super-sidekick wardrobe malfunction, Bright Boy (a.k.a. student Scott Hutchinson) begins to question the motives of his superhero partner, rethinks an old enemy, and prepares to step out on his own.
The Good: I definitely think the tween set will like this one. It has numerous martial arts fight scenes, criminal masterminds, betrayal, secret identities, and first love. It is easy to read and moves fairly quickl ...more

My sister and I just recently picked up some arcs, and Sidekicks was one of them. Masked by a couple young adult novels, I definitely was expecting it to be more of a sidekick (no pun intended) to what I thought would the "better" books. I was so wrong. I picked it up after one of said "better" books disgusted me so much I had to put it down (Misfit, see my review).Thinking I'd just start it quickly and then go to bed, I was totally unprepared for the kick Sidekicks had. It was amazing! The main
...more

I put off reading this book because, being about superheroes, I suspected that it was totally a GUY book. Fantasy is not my favorite genre either, but my Mock Newbery guys loved it so much (and the girls are starting to weigh in positively too) that I knew I HAD to read it. WOW!! I was immediately drawn into this amazing adventure of modern kids, Scott and Allison, who are typical middle schoolers by day and Bright Boy and Monkeywrench, sidekicks of the warring Phantom Justice and Doctor Chaotic
...more

Why is it so difficult to write a good superhero novel? There must be dozens out there but most of them are like Ferraiolo's Sidekicks. Which is it to say, they don't quite make the grade. Scott Hutchinson has been a plus/plus (super speed and super strength) for years. Posing as Bright Boy, the sidekick to Phantom Justice, Scott's never had a problem with his job or his employer until an embarrassing moment with his yellow tights and a pretty lady end up on all the news channels. Determined to
...more

Do you think being a sidekick to a superhero sounds like the best job ever? If you answered the question (any answer will do), then this book is for you. Scott aka “Bright Boy” has been a sidekick for Phantom Justice aka Trent (his mentor and adopted dad) since he was 7. Unfortunately Scott is starting to outgrow his sidekick status, and he has definitely outgrown his tights. Since an awkward incident involving the aforementioned tights made ‘Bright Boy’ a laughingstock, Scott has started to ret
...more

Tough book to review. Very wellwritten just like The Big Splash, fun, dark and twisty, managing to surprise me a couple of times which is not always easy...
However, be warned that nearly the first 100 pages are preoccupied with the feelings of the main character about being caught on video "standing at attention" in his costume (guys you know what I mean)... While this is handled humorously, and does play into guys worst nightmares, it makes the book skew more for upper middle, and pretty neatly ...more
However, be warned that nearly the first 100 pages are preoccupied with the feelings of the main character about being caught on video "standing at attention" in his costume (guys you know what I mean)... While this is handled humorously, and does play into guys worst nightmares, it makes the book skew more for upper middle, and pretty neatly ...more

The author's gift for dialogue was there again this time but I think the(very cool)cover did a disservice to the book. The audience seemed to be around an 8th grade reader but the cover looked more 4th grade. I bought it for my 11-yr-old nephew, thinking it would be the same audience as The Big Splash but...my bad. Great ideas in here, gotta say it, but it seemed rushed in spots. Regardless, I'm keeping my eye on Ferraiolo.

The book Sidekicks is about a child with an undefined destiny trying to find his way in a world of lies and mysteries. It is located in the near future. I would recommend this book to all people who like si-fi action books with a dash of romance. The only problem I found with the book is it has a slow start and complicated plot but, soon explains it's self near the end of the book. That is why I gave the book four stars.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Found this book at HPB today and finished it... today. I didn't mean to buy it, but accidentally got dragged in after reading the first few chapters. It was a fast read with a lot of interesting points, but heavy on the pros and cons-
PROS:
-The writing flows really well
-The characters are likeable
-The premise is interesting and well-executed
-The fight scenes are easy to visualize
-Ferraiolo dodges/subverts a lot of annoying teen-superhero tropes
CONS:
-The book kicks off with some embarrasment about ...more
PROS:
-The writing flows really well
-The characters are likeable
-The premise is interesting and well-executed
-The fight scenes are easy to visualize
-Ferraiolo dodges/subverts a lot of annoying teen-superhero tropes
CONS:
-The book kicks off with some embarrasment about ...more

This was a great book. An amazing job by Jack D Ferraiolo. The book was nothing like i thought it would be like, it was full of twist and turns that i personally did not expect at all. It is about a boy, Scott Hutchinson, a.k.a. Bright Boy that is having ;its of problems. In school their is this girl that happens to be his nemesis, Monkey Wrench. He is also having trouble at home with Phantom Justice. He hates his costume, which is very tight and small. Phantom Justice is his guardian and his s
...more

Ben Werchowsky
3/24/18
P.8
Play it Safe
Sidekicks by Jack D. Ferraiolo, 310 pages,2011, science fiction.
This book is about a boy named Scott Hutchinson whose dad is a superhero and has a butler who is good at fighting. Trent his father teaches Scott how to be a hero and gives him the name bright boy. Bright boy and Phantom Justice (Trent) fight many villains with their superpowers like super speed and strength. He finds out that one of the villains he is facing actually goes to his school. He find ...more
3/24/18
P.8
Play it Safe
Sidekicks by Jack D. Ferraiolo, 310 pages,2011, science fiction.
This book is about a boy named Scott Hutchinson whose dad is a superhero and has a butler who is good at fighting. Trent his father teaches Scott how to be a hero and gives him the name bright boy. Bright boy and Phantom Justice (Trent) fight many villains with their superpowers like super speed and strength. He finds out that one of the villains he is facing actually goes to his school. He find ...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

Sidekicks 5/5 Stars!
This novel was a really big surprise for me! When I picked it up from the library, I figured it'd be a fun read but didn't except much from it. I was wrong though! I found the world, and the characters in it to hook you in and made you want to read more. At first (I'd say the first few chapters), it was kinda the run of the mill YA book, but after that I was kept turning pages and wondering what was coming next.
I love that this is a standalone novel, so I won't be let down b ...more
This novel was a really big surprise for me! When I picked it up from the library, I figured it'd be a fun read but didn't except much from it. I was wrong though! I found the world, and the characters in it to hook you in and made you want to read more. At first (I'd say the first few chapters), it was kinda the run of the mill YA book, but after that I was kept turning pages and wondering what was coming next.
I love that this is a standalone novel, so I won't be let down b ...more

This is a fun book with some serious overtones for young adults! This is the story of a couple of super heroes who are still in high school. They end up learning each other's secret identity and Bright Boy in the yellow tights will never be the same. He is a side kick, but who is the main super hero and what is his issue? Even in Super Hero Land, the same issues of power and control persist. We listened to this book, and it was much fun!

Honestly nothing beyond pure entertainment. But on that level, wow did this book work.

We listened to this during our drive for Spring Break and enjoyed it thoroughly, even staying in the car at times to finish a chapter or disc before getting out of the car. It was an entertaining story focusing on the sidekick of the superhero - Phantom Justice. The sidekick - Bright Boy, who has been BB for several years now (and of course is getting older but the costume is the same), is experiencing growing pains and is starting to assert his own individuality like any normal teenager.
There ...more
There ...more

Read this one a while ago, but it was always a kind of standout to me. I'm not exactly sure why I like this book so much, but I thought the characters were well written. The emphasis on the sidekicks as opposed to the superheroes is a really cool perspective. I also have a weakness for anything a little bit cheesy, and any kind of superhero story always falls into that feel-good cheese label no matter how hard it tries.

This novel was a fast read. I leapt through the pages like the titular characters leaping across roofs. I don't generally read YA novels, having left my YA years far behind, but it's one of the few ways to get some superhero fiction these days. I read the first two pages and was hooked. The writing was direct, the witty dialogue actually witty, and the action nicely delineated.
As I was reading I was struck by how much the main character, Bright Boy, is clearly an analogue of Robin, while his men ...more
As I was reading I was struck by how much the main character, Bright Boy, is clearly an analogue of Robin, while his men ...more

Nov 11, 2014
Veronica of V's Reads
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
contemporary,
grief-loss,
fun-fast-read,
innocent-fun,
urban-fantasy,
ya-adventure,
ya-romance
4.5 stars!
SIDEKICKS is a YA romance/adventure about Scott Hutchinson, a super strong/super fast teen boy whose alter ego is Bright Boy. He is sidekick to the world's greatest superhero--Phantom Justice. And, man is his world crumbling beneath his feet! Like many combat veterans, Scott's a hero, who doesn't show it.
Scott/Bright Boy has reached the Age of Awareness. Though he's been a sidekick for seven years, he's just now into puberty. And, well, his uniform tights...they are TIGHT! One night, h ...more
SIDEKICKS is a YA romance/adventure about Scott Hutchinson, a super strong/super fast teen boy whose alter ego is Bright Boy. He is sidekick to the world's greatest superhero--Phantom Justice. And, man is his world crumbling beneath his feet! Like many combat veterans, Scott's a hero, who doesn't show it.
Scott/Bright Boy has reached the Age of Awareness. Though he's been a sidekick for seven years, he's just now into puberty. And, well, his uniform tights...they are TIGHT! One night, h ...more

I enjoyed this book a lot, but after the first couple of chapters I was ready to toss it out. Without the first few chapters, it would be so much better.
In the future, some people are born with extra strength, speed, intelligence, or a combination of some of the three. Bright Boy is the teenage sidekick to Phantom Justice, both plus speed/plus strength. Bright Boy is struggling to transition into adolescence: he doesn't make friends at school, he gets picked on by bullies, and his costume still ...more
In the future, some people are born with extra strength, speed, intelligence, or a combination of some of the three. Bright Boy is the teenage sidekick to Phantom Justice, both plus speed/plus strength. Bright Boy is struggling to transition into adolescence: he doesn't make friends at school, he gets picked on by bullies, and his costume still ...more

It's not easy to be Scott. While he has super strength and speed, he's being raised by Trent, aka Phantom Justice, and must perform super hero sidekick duties as Bright Boy. The yellow tights and red cape were cute when he was younger, but after a much televised wardrobe malfunction, he's ready to ditch the costume. At school, he's bullied by Jake and ignored by most of the other students. After being in prison for five years, Bright Boy's arch nemesis, Dr. Chaotic, is back, as is his screeching
...more

Stories with a male protagonist seem to be slim pickin's these days, so I was excited to pick up this comic-book themed novel. Middle-school student Scott Hutchinson, better known as Bright Boy, is the sidekick to world-renowned superhero Phantom Justice. Superheroes are now referred to by the more scientific appellation plus/plus. Supers can have super strength, speed, intelligence, or some combination of all three.
Witty repartee, "punny" insults and other cheesy dialogue is part of the territ ...more
Witty repartee, "punny" insults and other cheesy dialogue is part of the territ ...more
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