How to Save a Superhero by Ruth Freeman || Nursing Homes and Superheroes

How to Save a Superhero

Ten-year-old Addie knows that Superheroes aren't real, and that they certainly don't hide out in retirement communities, but she may just have to change her mind.

Addie and her mom never stay in one place too long. They've been up and down and all around the country. When her mom, Tish, gets a new job at Happy Valley Village Retirement Community in Pennsylvania, Addie believes they'll be on the road again in a month. But this time, something is different--make that, someone. Mr. Norris, a grumpy resident of Happy Valley and. . .a former superhero?

Well, that's what Marwa, whose mom also works at Happy Valley, would try and have Addie believe. Addie and her friend Dickson know better even if there are things they can't explain. Like the time Mr. Norris was about to get hit by a car and was suddenly on the other side of the road or the way his stare seems to take root in Addie's stomach.

When a man starts prowling the Happy Valley grounds, claiming to be the great-nephew of a resident, Addie, Marwa, and Dickson soon stumble into a grand conspiracy involving the Manhattan Project, a shady weapons company, and the fate of the human race, in this smart, funny middle grade novel.

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Superhero books with a little bit of a twist!
• Older characters full of life and up to trouble.
• A unique, fun setting of a nursing home.
• A small mystery to be solved.
• The answer to the question. “What happens when superheroes grow old?”
• Contemporary mixed with a teensy bit of fantasy.
• Some fun scheming and shenanigans.

Many thanks to Holiday House and Rockstar Book Tours for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

You all know I’m a sucker for superhero stories, so of course this book caught my attention! Better yet, it’s about an older superhero, supporting my theory that a superhero never gets too old to have a good adventure. Not even when they’re in a nursing home!

How to Save a Superhero is a fun contemporary fantasy set in a nursing home where the residents aren’t always what they seem. These characters have big personality and know how to have fun.

I absolutely loved the nursing home setting. I enjoyed getting to know the different characters (even though it was sometimes difficult telling them apart because there were a lot of them). While there weren’t many surprises plot-wise (the twists are pretty easy to call from the beginning of the book), I think this would be a great book for middle mid-grade readers who just enjoy books about superheroes.

Also, totally just a me thing, but Addie calls her mother “Tish,” and that bugs the crap out of me! I mean, I know it happens. I know people who call their parents by their first name, but it generally tends to be people in broken homes where they were abused or abandoned by their parent. However, I didn’t see that was the case here. It’s just a pet peeve of mine, really!

Who says old folks can’t have fun? The nursing home setting in How to Save a Superhero turns out to be more fun than anyone is counting on . . . especially Addie!

Addie’s just looking for a place where she and her mother, Tish, can settle down. After moving constantly, she’s ready for a place to call their own and somewhere she can stick around for a while. She thinks this might just be the place, even though the nursing home her mother is working at isn’t a sure thing and they’re still living their lives on the edge of a precipice. Still, Addie is determined to make it work.

Most people don’t associate nursing homes with fun, and that’s still true in this case. It’s not always fun and games, especially when one of the residents gets sick and another finds himself threatened. Still, I appreciated the unique setting and the way the characters themselves made it fun! Because characters they are, each and every one of them.

The residents of the Happy Valley Village Retirement Community are larger-than-life and easy to love!

There’s a lot of them, so they can be kind of difficult to keep straight at times. However, each had a very different personality, and when they were together, they were a ton of fun! Never let it be said that old people can’t scheme, because let me tell you. The residents of the home are like one big family. They don’t always get along, of course, but when push comes to shove, they’re there for each other. And they aren’t afraid to raise a little ruckus!

This book asks the questions, “What happens when superheroes get old?” and, “Do superheroes ever really retire?”

I suppose you’ll just have to read the book and come to your own conclusions on that one. I do so love superhero books, and I think an older superhero is a take that I don’t see very often. Usually we read about superheroes in the prime of their life, taking on the villains. What happens when that suit and cape have lost their shine, though? This was such an interesting take to read!

As far as superheroes go, the hints about this one are pretty heavy-handed and obvious, but I enjoyed the character nonetheless. It was almost like an inside joke that the reader was in on with the character that Addie was completely oblivious to, which was kind of fun. Plus, who doesn’t love cantankerous old men who just enjoy grumping? That’s basically the epitome of my spirit animal right there!

The plot took a little while to get going, and it was kind of slow to ramp up.

Maybe I’m just terribly impatient. In fact, there’s a good chance that is the case. However, it felt like nothing really happened until about midway through the book, except a few heavy-handed hints about superheroes. I confess that this would be perfect for contemporary readers, but that’s just not me. I struggle with contemporary in general, so this is probably more of a me problem than the book. But it did take a while for the story to really grab me.

About Ruth Freeman

Ruth Freeman is the author of One Good Thing About America, which received a Golden Kite Honor Award and was called a "touching novel" by School Library Journal. Ruth grew up in rural Pennsylvania but now lives in Maine where she teaches English language learners in an elementary school. 

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3 winners will receive a finished copy of HOW TO SAVE A SUPERHERO, US Only.

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