Monday, March 14, 2022

The Supervillain’s Guide to Being a Fat Kid by Matt Wallace - OPTIONAL

 The Supervillain’s Guide to Being a Fat Kid by Matt Wallace, 272 pages. Katherine Tegen Books, 2022. $14 

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (physical bullying, beating) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

 In a world with superheroes, sixth grader Max gets bullied every day because he is fat. He starts middle school hopeful that things will be different, but on the first day of school, the class bully and his friends see Max eating a cookie. They begin tormenting Max every day until, in desperation, Max writes to his favorite supervillian Master Plan, who is also overweight. Master Plan agrees to help Max with his problems as long as Max agrees to follow his advice exactly. 

Wallace has a funny story with an unexpected ending. Master Plan helped Max stop body-shaming himself and to do things that gave him power over his own life rather than stay a victim. However, Master Plan’s advice sometimes felt like a lecture to the reader rather than help geared toward just Max. Also, there was so much advice at the beginning of the book that the action got off to a slow start. 

Rebecca Reber, Middle School Librarian 

No comments: