My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons

Nosy Crow, 2015. ISBN: 9780857634795
(Age: 9-12) Highly recommended. Themes: Brothers and sisters, Comics, Humorous stories, Heroes and heroines. Eleven year old Luke Parker, life is rather average, he lives with his parents and older brother Zack in an ordinary area of London. Luke is an avid comic book reader; he loves reading about superheroes and their daring adventures. One evening after an hour in their backyard treehouse, Luke urgently needs to wee, and this changes the course of both brothers' life. In those few minutes, Zorbon the Decider's spacecraft lands and Zack is chosen to save two universes. He is given six powers to help him, including telekinesis and the alien leaves him with a final warning 'NEMESIS IS COMING'.
Luke is extremely upset: his nerdy brother loves maths and has no my interest in being a superhero and saving anything. Luke relishes the role of guiding Star Lad - Zack's superhero identity, making his costume - a shower-curtain cape and constantly reminding him about what is required. Life changes after a Saturday afternoon visit to Comic Connection, Luke's favourite store, Star Lad stops an out of control bus with his bare hands, lifting it into the air like a champion weightlifter. When Luke's classmate Lara decides to unmask Star Guy, Luke has his own mission how to prevent Zack's identity being found out.
This is an action packed novel, the narration is humorous, the impossible problems of being a superhero who can't drive to a crime scene, there's the dilemmas of a first crush, Luke's witticisms and asides to the reader and a monumental amount of superhero knowledge. David Solomons' My Brother is a Superhero is a tremendous novel for readers, who love all things alien, extraterrestrial, adventurous and funny.
Rhyllis Bignell