Miles Morales

Miles Morales: a Spider-Man Novel
Jason Reynolds
Marvel/Disney, 2017  261 pages
Grades 6-Up
Super Hero/Adventure

The latest in Marvel's novelizations of popular and teen-friendly superheroes, seen earlier in the year with Shannon Hale's The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, penned by established authors in the field. Miles Morales is a reboot of Spider Man, first created by Marvel's Ultimate series as a spin-off alternative to the standard Marvel universe. A biracial teen living in Brooklyn, Miles takes the mantel of Spider Man over from Peter Parker and fights crime, while also struggling with normal teen problems. In this first in a projected series, Miles is not sure that he wants to continue on as Spider Man. His spider senses have been acting up and he is still morning the loss of his formally estranged uncle. Strange happenings result in Miles getting suspended from his prestigious Brooklyn boarding school and putting his scholarship in jeopardy. Miles' parents are not pleased with him, so it is a surprise when a cousin that Miles never knew existed reaches out and Miles' father agrees to take him to juvie to meet him. Meanwhile, a creepy history teacher is imparting racists lessons about slavery and Miles suspects that maybe he is part of a larger ring. His roommate is challenging him to have more fun, his crush is challenging him to write poetry and his parents are begging him to stay out of trouble. What is a young super hero to do? Fight some bad guys to try to clean up his neighborhood and get to the bottom of the ring of racists in order to secure his position in the school and keep it a healthy and safe learning environment. Oh, and to get the girl.

I love Jason Reynolds. This book is a departure for him and proves Marvel's commitment to finding quality writers to fictionalize their comic books. Much like with Hale's Squirrel Girl, there are no illustrations, which is a surprise for a book based on a visual format. The action is communicated with words alone, drawing in fans of the comic and possibly turning them into traditional readers. It is helpful when reading this book if you already have knowledge of the franchise. It feels almost like a sequel and I kept checking to make sure that this was actually the first in the series. This may be because Marvel is assuming that prior knowledge of the characters is known by the reader picking up this book. I was expecting non-stop action, but much of the book is centered around Miles' personal life and troubles and there is not as much fighting bad guys as I was anticipating. Reynolds writes the way teenagers talk and his language is hip and cool, making his characters believable and likable to teen readers. Miles is typically teen-angsty and struggles with the mantel of being Spider Man. The fact that he is half African-American/half Hispanic offers much needed diversity to the very white genre of super heroes and the field of books for young people as a whole. The character of Miles' roommate, Ganke, offers comic relief and a sub-plot involving his crush adds a bonus dimension to the story. I like how Reynolds infuses the power of poetry into the book and stresses the need for a good education. Miles is a good kid with a tough job, who loves his family, has crush on a girl and is trying to figure out his place in the universe. And he just happens to be a superhero on the side.