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Why comics matter for young readers 02/12/24
Leon The Extraordinary
Publisher: Scholastic
Leon lives in a world where many people have super powers. No-one’s exactly sure where the first Supers came from, but generations of super people have lived in Leon’s town, and many of them have passed on their powers to their children. Some are good, and fight crime. Some are not so virtuous.
Leon doesn’t have super powers, but he wants to help people – unlike his school bully nemesis Clementine, who is a Super, and uses her powers to intimidate the other kids. Some kids, like Thaddeus, come from families of super-villains, but are keen that they not be perceived as evil, just because of what their family may have done.
But when some of the kids at Leon’s school turn into zombies because of a game on their phones, Leon and Clementine have to band together to stop them. Will they defeat the zombies, and the super-villain who made the game in the first place? And who is the mysterious Ms Magnificent?
This is the first in a new comic book series from Jamar Nicholas, and is absolutely perfect for kids in year 6 and 7 finding their way at school and tacking friendship issues and bullies. Leon and his best friend Carlos are super relatable, and there’s a underlying theme here about standing up for the right thing, even when bullies seem more powerful than you. Both boys’ mums are brilliant characters, and there’s lots to appeal to Marvel fans, especially of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse or Ms Marvel.
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Books we love in December 2022
Enjoy a few of our favourite books from December