My Brother is a Superhero

Title: My Brother is a Superhero
Author: David Solomons
Illustrator: Laura Ellen Anderson
Publisher:  Nosy Crow
Published: 2015
Format: Paperback
Source: My own copy


Luke is a massive comic fan and, as a result, is an expert on superheroes and the powers they use to defeat evil villains. So it's not surprising that when Zorbon the Decider needs to create a superhero to save the universe he arrives in Luke's garden. Unfortunately Luke needs a wee and so his brother Zack, who has never read a comic in his life, receives the super powers instead. Zack is going to need all the help he can get to defeat Nemesis.

Luke has to take on the role of the superhero's sidekick and try to overcome his envy to help Zack save the world. He is helped in the process by his best friend Serge,who is a massive fan of Star Lad, as Zack is known, and Lara, a reporter on the school newspaper, who is desperate to unmask Star Lad. Trying to keep Zack's identity from these two whilst requiring their help adds to Luke's problems.

This book made me burst out laughing on a train full of people, it is that funny. I could not stop reading it and had to stay up late to find out if Zack (and Luke) managed to save not one, but two universes. The story flows really well and I found myself reading “just one more chapter” until I reached the end. It manages to strike the right balance between humour and thrills so that the reader is gripped to the end. I really enjoyed it and cannot wait until the sequel, My Teacher is an Alien Overlord, comes out next summer.