About the Author

Perry Moore grew up in Virginia. His father, a Vietnam veteran, inspired the character of Hal Creed. Perry is the Executive Producer of The Chronicles of Narnia, and his book about the making of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was a New York Times bestseller. With his partner, Hunter Hill, Perry wrote and directed his first feature film, Lake City, starring Sissy Spacek.

This is Perry's first novel. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up-What do you get when you mix fantasy with GLBT fiction? You get a confused, frustrated, and determined hero. Thom Creed is a gay teen whose mother has left home for reasons unknown to him. The boy discovers that, like his mother, he has special powers. Thom's father is a hardworking man with prejudice against homosexuals and superheroes. Thom's greatest ambition is to join the League, a band of superheroes. By chance, Thom's special powers are discovered by League members when the bus he is on while attempting to run away from home is attacked by villains and he uses his powers to save the passengers. He earns an invitation to try out for membership in the League and barely makes the cut for probationary membership along with a group of other misfits, who form a team. From Scarlett, who hides a medical secret under her pizza delivery jacket, to Ruth, an old woman whose only romance was with a man of the wrong color, the team members must deal with numerous challenges. While Thom's difficulties with his father go from bad to worse, threats to the safety of the world mount. Michael Urie expertly distinguishes each character's voice in Perry Moore's novel. (Hyperion, 2009). A description of masturbation while viewing gay pornography makes this story most appropriate for older teens.-Ann Weber, Bellarmine College Prep., San Jose, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

With a mother who has inexplicably disappeared, nascent superpowers and a burgeoning understanding of his gay sexuality, Thom Creed's life is anything but normal. Moore (an executive producer of the Chronicles of Narnia films) gives his debut novel a contemporary setting, albeit one rife with superheroes and villains straight out of the Golden Age of comic books. Thom is elated when the League, the foremost organization of superheroes, invites him to join as a probationary member. However, because his father, a disgraced former hero, detests super-heroes and gays ("These people will never have a normal life. They are the ultimate downfall of our society"), Thom hides both aspects of his identity. Essentially, much of this will be familiar from comics or The Incredibles: humorous details include an illness-inducing hero named Typhoid Larry and the media savvy of the superheroes. Ultimately, the novel misses its mark, with an abundance of two-dimensional characters and contrived situations. Additionally, conspicuous similarities between secondary characters and comic icons like Superman and Wonder Woman seem less like homage and more like imitation. While some may be glad to see a gay hero come out of the closet just in time to save the world, others may wish the situations felt less cliched. Ages 13-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.