...with great power

8/1/2017

Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds

If only life weren't such a strangely complicated pattern,
every person in the world, a single fly stuck to the web,
And fear is the spider waiting for the right moment to feast."

"Yeah, well let me ask you something, Super Hero...Who's gonna save you?"

...and in today's "strange but true" turn of events: Yesterday I set Miles Morales down on the table. When I returned to retrieve the book, a case for a new keypad was beside it. The shock of seeing these two items together creeped me out. Seriously. I spent the entire day looking over my shoulder.
Read Reynolds's book and you will understand just how freaky this is. I won't give away an important plot point. However, if anyone has an unexplained encounter relating to this book, please share your experience in the comments section.
Maybe it's just me.

Full disclosure: I knew nothing about Miles Morales prior to reading this book. After picking up the novel, I stopped after the first couple of chapters and did some research, learning more about this Super Hero. I found his back story fascinating. Biracial, his mother is from the Puerto Rico and his father is African American, Miles inherits the burden of a family history of crime.

"Because no matter what you say, you're just like me."

Reynolds takes this character and adds complexity and depth to the thirteen-year-old who is wrestling to find the balance between his teen life and his super powers (in addition to wall- crawling and unlike Peter Parker, he has the ability to camouflage himself). He's a Brooklyn boy attending an upscale academy where he is besieged by racial harassment. Miles also struggles with issues such as deciding whether or not to pursue the poetry-loving girl in class. He also grapples with the constant pressure to succeed in school.

"How am I supposed to work to keep some of the weight off my folks, and do stuff like extra credit? It's hard to do extra anything, y'know?"

In addition to vividly portaying Miles' inner struggles, Reynolds does a brilliant job of capturing the flavor and charm of the Brooklyn community. I especially enjoyed the dialog overheard when stopping by the barbershop, visiting the bodega, and hanging around the card table.
Reynolds shows his writing chops not only with character development but with a knockout action scene near the book's conclusion. He delivers the goods with heart-pounding intensity. That action left me breathless.
You've done it again, Mr. Reynolds. Another stellar novel to add to your expanding constellation of Middle Grade and YA hits.