Logan is an orphan, separated from his younger sibling (who he writes the book to, as a series on ongoing entries but not exactly letters or diary entries, per se), neurodiverse and old enough (12) and realistic enough to never expect to get adopted.
Until he does.
He didn't think it possible, but his adoptive parents are stranger than he is. What's up with his dad never sleeping? And his wardrobe full of… the exact same clothes? And his parents not being home when he wakes in the middle of the night? Isn't that something parents do -- be there, at home, in case their kid wakes with nightmares or a fever or …whatever?
Not these parents. There's a reason they've chosen Logan to be their son.
They're hiding something, and who's more motivated than Logan to keep their secret?
While not a part of the MCU cast or products from Stan Lee's prolific imagination, Loga's new parents are bonafide superheroes.
Who just want to be normal, and have a family. Live, love, laugh. Together.
And they…love!…Logan.
He's hit the jackpot, as far as parents go.
Which just screams for a villain to come along and mess it all up, doesn't it?
I won't reveal who the villain is, or how Logan and his parents defeat them. And you never find out if he finds his younger sibling. It's a book 1, and we're eagerly expecting the sequel!
Enjoy!
Oh my gosh, I loved this book! But I loved the first one, Float, and I loved that I had to wait a few years for it to be written and well edited, because it's just stunning. I can't recommend this highly enough.
Once again, it's summer camp for super-powered (but no control) RISK kids, Camp Outlier. The first book was all about Emerson overcoming his fear of floating away and the boys saving Murphy (he's the time traveler in the group and you really should read the first book to get the storyline) and bonding with the other boys in the Red Maple cabin to become a team.
This year they're White Oak men. Ok, well, they're still boys, technically, but this book focuses on invisible Hank. In the bathroom on the way to camp, a startled but still grumpy & sticky Gary and Murphy deliver a warning to Hank. And then Murphy shows up a second time, still in the bathroom, in tears, apparently grieving the loss of his friend.
Hank gets the message: he's not going to make it through summer camp this year. He dies.
But he's not 100-percent certain that's the message (it's a little bit ambiguous). Besides, who's he gonna tell? Murphy risked his rearend to visit him twice; he can't turn his friend in to the Time Travel Police, who are hanging out at camp this year all over the place, along with the new, super-strict camp counselor.
Hank's been totally invisible for a while now, and invisibility is not all it's cracked up to be. It ruins his grandiose gestures to the girls. He's starting to hate not being seen, or being looked through – literally. To make matters worse, as the summer progresses, he learns his touch makes other things – and people – invisible, too. And he can't control that, either. There's a new boy in the cabin, who can levitate things (and explode them on occasion -- yowlch!) but who's social media famous and it seems like everyone can "see" him, no matter what he does.
But there is a girl, Ana, in their partner girls' group who uses echolocation to "see." And she's seeing invisible folks lurking around camp, other than Hank.
By the time Hank and the kids figure out what's going on…well, I'm not going to spoil it for you! Enjoy this fantastic read, and I sooo hope there's a third in the works.
Note to Middle grade authors looking for mentor texts: This is a fantastic mentor text for MG writers. The emo punch is not overdone/sappy or unbelievable, the plot is deliciously complex, and I absolutely loved / could relate to the quote on p. 164:
"What I mean," I (Hank) said, "is that in every book I've read lately, the guys need to be saved by the gals. Every guy character seems written with a healthy dose of stupid, and the only way he could find his way out of a bucket is if a girl character shows him how. You haven't noticed that?"
Well, yes, I have. Five years of reading it. So wonderful to finally see it called out! TY, Laura Martin.
