The Stupendous Switcheroo

July 17, 2023
After a boy wakes up one morning to discover that he’s telekinetic, he sheds his everyday persona and adopts the pseudonym Switcheroo. He’s determined to join the ranks of local heroes such as Vin Valor, a tech genius who leads a team of crime-fighting supers, but his robot nanny Al insists that Switcheroo consult his mother before embarking on any superpowered adventures. With his mom on a top-secret work trip, however, who knows how long he’ll have to wait? Giving Al the slip, Switcheroo dons a makeshift costume and pursues evil-doers, until he’s recruited by Vin Valor himself to help capture blob villain Lou Ooze. Switcheroo is finally on the road to becoming a bona fide superhero, but when he wakes up the next day, his telekinesis is gone, replaced by a new ability to speak with cats, in an Imogene’s Antlers–esque twist. Even worse, he finds out his mom has gone missing from her trip. While the innovative gadgets and superpowers that populate this madcap series starter by Heider (The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy) and Sell (the Doodleville series) are surprising and amusing, the story’s true heart comes from Switheroo’s struggles navigating family and friendship dynamics, and learning to trust himself. Ages 8–12.