Ms. O Reads Books: Zodiac Legacy: Convergence

Monday, February 2, 2015

Zodiac Legacy: Convergence

Recently I was contacted by a Disney Hyperion publicist to try out a new book. "Sure," I thought. "Sounds like fun. Super heroes? I'm all about Marvel movies ... though I have to admit I haven't read many of the comics." YET.

Twelve magical superpowers.

One sinister conspiracy.

One unlikely hero.

Stan Lee presents a brand new, magical, super-powered adventure! When twelve magical superpowers are unleashed on the world, a Chinese-American teenager named Steven will be thrown into the middle of an epic global chase. He'll have to master strange powers, outrun super-powered mercenaries, and unlock the mysterious powers of the Zodiac.

The team behind the story ... Stan Lee, Stuart Moore, and Andie Tong

Now. Things I loved and things I'd like to see them improve upon ...

Great artwork. I love the choice to use three colors. Culturally significant and gives it a streamlined, bold look.
The variety of characters could be a plus. Not everyone got as much page development time but that leaves things nice and open for new stories. Each character is so different!
Who doesn't think a few super powers would be fun?
Not to give anything away but great twist at the end. Didn't see it coming and it definitely has me curious for the next installment.
A couple typos that really ... editing should catch that. I know, it sounds nit-picky. We're all human and we make mistakes. I just have high expectations.
It's longer than it needed to be. Like ... by about a hundred pages. Tighten up sentence structure and cut some unnecessary stuff and more kids would actually finish it.

The story is a blast, despite the writing still needing a bit of work. Not everything needs to be a literary masterpiece. So definitely still a contender for middle school (the main character is in 8th grade) ... and for advanced fifth graders whose families don't mind superhero fighting. Just don't see most of my elementary kiddos actually pushing through the whole thing. They'd pick it up because it was big but never finish it.

Here's a fun little generator to share with readers.

Interested in a little giveaway? They are letting me give away a copy of the book with some temporary tattoos! Enter below. If I set up the Rafflecopter properly it will pick the winner on Friday. If I messed it up (first try!) then I'll just random.org the comments. US only.