Twelve-year-old Ellie Engle is happy living in the shadow of her best friend Abby Ortega, a bold, beautiful, and talented gymnast. Ellie would rather read superhero comic books in her room than make Big Plans for her life like Abby. She knows this makes her different from many of her peers, but she doesn’t like change, and thinks she is content. And despite the emotions that the start of junior high is bringing, Ellie has learned to stay quiet and out of the way of her hard-working mom, who has had to take two jobs to support them ever since Ellie’s father left.
When a freak earthquake hits their small Indiana town, however, Ellie acquires strange new powers. She has super hearing and super smell—and, most shockingly, can bring things back to life. She tries to hide her abilities, but when she revives a frog during a dissection unit in science class, her secret is out—and soon on social media.
The spotlight is on Ellie in a way she never wanted, even as seventh-grade is bringing its own set of social changes. Abby seems more interested in hanging out with other cheerleaders and mooning over the cutest boy in the class. For Ellie, Abby is all she needs. She knows she isn’t interested in boys, and actually has a crush on Abby. But Ellie’s fame strains their relationship further—and when her rocketing fame falls back to earth, she must reevaluate not only her shifting friendships but also herself.
There’s additional queer representation here, too: one character who becomes significant has two moms; another whom we see in passing uses they/them pronouns.
Author Leah Johnson has given us a warm, funny, and original story of a Black, queer, nerdy girl learning to unapologetically take her place in the world. Ellie’s unique voice and the superhero storyline keep this from being just another coming-of-age story, balancing humor and insights as we follow Ellie’s “origin story” to become not just a superhero, but also herself. Highly recommended.
