You’ll Love These Superheroes – who are they? In order of their appearance:
Jeremy Gentle
Jeremy, seventh grade superhero
Jeremy’s a 12-year-old genius in 7th grade. Too bad he’s stuck in a disabled class with cerebral palsy and no girl would ever look at his skinny, twisted body. But he has a cool lab in his basement where he experiments with 25,000 volt surge of electricity–leading to his superpower.
His shares his story with his best friend, Dan Elanga.
Love These Superheroes – Dan Elanga
Dan Elanga, the second Secret Super
Dan’s parents sold their business in Cameroon to come to America to give their blind son a better chance. Dan pestered Jeremy until he told him about his experiment–and Dan tried it. And got a different superpower.
Of course, the boys tried to hide their superpowers. But they failed to consider their fellow student–
Kayla Verdera – the smallest superhero
Kayla Verdera
Kayla’s a genius like Jeremy, but she’s not even five feet tall. She used to be on the cheerleading squad as the topmost girl–until she got spinal meningitis. Now she has to use a walker, and a voice app to talk. Plus she drools. In one swoop she fell from one of the in crowd to the out crowd, the disabled kids.
But she notices Jeremy and Dan hiding something and talking together, so she gets her friend Aubrey to ask them. They invite her over to Jeremy’s house. And she gets a completely different superpower.
Now her best friend has to go to Jeremy’s next. she’s–
Aubrey Wilcosky – The Talkingest Superhero
Aubrey, super powered heroine.
With Aubrey, she talks first and thinks later. She’s as big as Dan and was a star on the softball team–until she lost her legs in a car accident. Undaunted, she plowed on in borrowed prosthetics, while struggling in school. Kayla helped her study and they became best friends. Now she gets Jeremy’s experimental ‘treatment’ and receives a unique superpowered gift.
So the four friends become superheroes. What next? Find out in:
I said this was a series. I also said Secret Supers goes on sale on Monday May 10th. So does the Villain’s Vacation ebook. Get it here, on May 10th, for .99.
What happens in Villain’s Vacation? The Secret Supers go to a coaster park for summer vacation. Too bad their worst enemy is also there–and out for revenge.
What’s new? All my best links, memes and videos of May. I’ve got them next.
What kind of reviews for you? Perhaps you’re a try before buying kind of guy–or gal. I’ve gotten a bunch of reviews on my books. I’ll give you a free sample of them. Let me know if anything appeals to you.
More News, Reviews – News First
First things first: my favorite Facebook group, the SciFi Roundtable posted this fine image:
Meet dozens of delightful denizens of science fiction and sorcery here, in their noteworthy newsletter.
Did you hear about this science news item? Adjustable solar satellites suitable for intercepting objects:
Next, word is heard from my wonderful illustrator, Sean Patrick “Fuzzy” Flanagan:
Still more Fuzzy art:
The third’s a charm:
More News, Reviews – Your Reviews Are Here
Look what turned up in my Facebook feed:
So happy with my latest purchase!! So I was given the audiobook by Andy in exchange for my review. After listening I had to contact Andy Zach for a signed copy!! It’s hilarious!! The series all started with zombie turkey’s.🤣 I didn’t read book 1 (yet) but didn’t need to. I even played part of the audiobook for my husband. We both laughed till we cried! Andy even added a thank you note. Fabulously fun mail in my box today! Love coming home to books! Thanks for the good laughs Andy!
This very funny tale has it all. There’s peril, adventure, mayhem, even a love story and a happy ending.
I laughed so hard that I occasionally had to stop and go back a few minutes so I could hear what I missed while I was cracking up. There were moments when I had to wipe my eyes, because I was laughing so hard I cried.
I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Rest of the Blog Tour Here, Beginning Day Three
I was excited to listen to Secret Supers and invited my 8- and 12-year-old to listen along with me. Since we’ve been distance learning the last month or so, we would spend time afterwards listening to this audiobook while eating our lunch together. It was the first time either of them had listened to an audiobook and this was a great one to start them off with.
Secret Supers caught our attention quickly. The storyline kept both my 2nd and 6th grader engaged and excited to listen to it each day. It took us about a week to finish as we listened in 30 minute increments.
Secret Supers is geared towards kids. It’s fun to listen to with them, but the target audience is the tween age group. The storyline is straight to the point and easy to follow. The key characters (Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey) are very relatable. As a parent, I loved that it opened up dialogue with my children on realizing no matter what a person looks like, they all have their own “super power” that should not be disregarded. What I loved even more is that it was my 8-year-old who pointed that out!
Teamwork was another resounding theme. Despite their disabilities and learning their new superpowers, each of the characters came together for a greater good.
Overall, we each gave Secret Supers by Andy Zach two thumbs up! And are hoping this is the beginning of a great series!
Divas With a Purpose – I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Secret Supers is such a fun story, and it has a great message. I listened with my mid-grade kiddos, one boy and one girl, and they both enjoyed the story. The target audience may be mid-grade kids, but this is the type of story that is entertaining for both kids and adults.
This book is fast-paced and just loads of fun from start to finish, and it has such a positive vibe. The kids each have a different disability, and those disabilities are handled honestly while still keeping an upbeat vibe. I love how their individual super powers gave them what they needed, and the four together complimented each other so well. The kids are all lovable and quirky, and you can’t help but root for their successes and smile when they do succeed.
It’s interesting that the story is narrated by a teenager. In fact, my kiddos noticed it right away and commented about it. It gave them a whole new appreciation for audiobooks, and they’ll both be looking for more stories narrated by Luke Castle. This young man really seems to enjoy himself as he narrates this book, and that certainly comes through. For me, some of the voices were maybe a little over the top, but my tweens had no complaints, and since this is a mid-grade story, I would say that’s the most important thing. They were thoroughly entertained by both Andy Zach’s story and Luke Castle’s performance, and I have to say that the two do go well together.
All in all, Andy Zach has done a terrific job with this book. The story and its characters are a positive force in a world that is all too often focused on the negative, and it all comes together for one entertaining and uplifting listen for kids of all ages.
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
4 Writing Hooks – where do I get them? From my books. What are they?
The first hook, for Zombie Turkeys, from the first page:
Chapter 1 Bartonville He felt different. More energetic, more alive. He bred with female after female in his flock without tiring. He stayed awake through the night. He feared no predator. Then a turkey hunter shot him.
“You know I love your mother. But your mother’s a zombie. Who wants to see one zombie, let alone four of them?” “Now that’s not fair. Mom and Dad have adjusted to their zombiism very well. Mom still volunteers at church and bakes cookies and pies for the bake sales. Dad still works as an accountant at GM. There’s nothing to worry about!”
From My Undead Mother-in-law by Andy Zach
My Undead Mother-in-law, chapter 1 icon. Click to get.
So, which hook did you like best? Or do you have another one from another author? If you do, I’ll post it/them here in my next blog.
The Third Hook of 4 Writing Hooks
Chapter 1 – Somalia Dirac sighed with relief when the US flag came down and the surrender flag went up on the mast of the titanic luxury yacht. He didn’t mind firing rounds from his AK-47 over their heads, but he hated killing people. He knew they were only infidels, but they were still people.
Okay, this hook is quite different. Do you still want to read what happens next? If you do, that’s a good hook.
The Last of 4 Writing Hooks
“Dear diary,” Jeremy Gentle dictated into his app on his tablet in his bedroom. “Today, I became a superhero.” Jeremy stopped, uncertain. Was that the best way to start his journal? Might as well just tell the story. He needed to sleep. He had a big algebra test tomorrow at Maryville Middle School.
And there you have it. My four book hooks. You can follow the links and get the one you like, or I’ll give you a free book in exchange for a review. Just let me know here.
Some Reviews
Short or long, I love them all. Good or bad, I want more to be had.
Let me start by saying that “Andy Zach” has an unusual sense of humor (or possibly has escaped from a lunatic asylum and is living under an assumed name). I invite you to check out his Amazon author page and read the bio. He’s gone all in on this zombie expert thing (since his parents were zombies) and states that he reanimated dead animals as a child for a science fair. He also currently raises phoenixes as a hobby. One more thing before starting on the story. What is that ‘thing’ on his head in his author picture?
Not your standard zombie tale December 28, 2018 When I started to read this book, I was leery. As far as I know, I’m less interested in zombies than anyone on the planet. How could I give a reasonable review? Turns out, it wasn’t hard at all. I’ve said before and it turned out to be true here that, if you have a ridiculous premise that’s hard to swallow, run with it, normalize it, and readers /viewers will eventually accept. And it worked. The original premise of cognizant, virtually indestructible zombies was lobbed and backed until I was a believer, actively rooting for zombies. Plenty of (bloodier than average) action, some smiling, if not guffaw humor, a nice fulfilling story arc in an easy readable length made for a fun book (if bloody action doesn’t bother you) with charm that didn’t take itself to seriously but still capable of many a tender and touching moments.
Different tilt on a zombie series December 6, 2018 I have read the whole series and enjoyed it. I did not find myself staying g up all night to finish or rushing home to read. That was probably a good thing as then If I had I’d of been cranky and over sleep for work. Never a pretty sight as I am not a morning person anyway. I liked the book for the unusual perspectives and storyline. If I spot about her book from this author O would definitely give it a try.
