6 Compelling Stories for Superhero Fans

The Cardboard Kingdom, by Chad Sell
What if you took your imagination and turned your block into a whole ‘nuther world—a world in danger, and only you and your friends can save it? That’s what the kids in the delightful graphic novel Cardboard Kingdom do: They take all of the cardboard lying around their neighborhood and use it to build an alternate universe for themselves. Each character gets a short story about their experiences within the kingdom, meaning kids are sure to find a favorite—and the author’s website has instructions for kids on how to replicate these sweet cardboard projects!

Mia Mayhem series, by Kara West and Leeza Hernandez
Do you know a young reader who keeps rewatching Black Panther and has devoured all of The Princess In Black? Hand them Mia Mayhem. In this brightly illustrated chapter book series, eight-year-old Mia discovers that she is a superhero! She must attend a new after-school program and keep her powers a secret from the rest of the class. Can she learn how to manage her powers AND balance everyday life? Mia’s being a superhero with a pet cat will be particularly cozy for those who fall in love with the new Captain Marvel movie—Mia and Carol Danvers have quite a bit in common!

Jada Sly, Artist & Spy, by Sherri Winston
Spies and superheroes have a lot of similar appeal—and if you’re Marvel’s Black Widow, you can be both. So it’s no surprise that Jada Sly will appeal to superhero fans! This incredible artist is on a mission to find her mother, who supposedly died in a car crash… but Jada knows she’s in New York City, because she’s a spy, just like Jada. Will her mother’s disappearance be solved, or will the hijinks in the city prove too much for Jada’s spy abilities?

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things, by Lenore Look and LeUyen Pham
What if you smashed The Incredibles with Diary of a Wimpy Kid in the form of an illustrated chapter book series? You’d get Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things! This charming series follows a terrified second grader named Alvin…who is secretly a superhero named Firecracker Man at home. His fear of everything at school doesn’t compare to his expertise as a gentleman and a good brother, but can he balance the two sides of his life?

My So-Called Superpowers, by Heather Nuhfer and Simini Blocker
Part of the struggle of superheroes is wanting to fit in with the people they have to protect—people who often think them too strange to really be one of the crowd. Veronica McGowan knows that struggle well. She’s a big ol’ nobody at school… until she wakes up with superpowers. Stupid superpowers. Stupidpowers. All her emotions play out for the school to see: fire when she’s angry, rainclouds when she’s sad; it’s utterly embarrassing. But why is it happening? What can she do with her powers? And is one of her teachers part of some secret government agency? A clever premise is hilariously executed in this terrific story.

Black Panther: Young Prince, by Ronald L. Smith
When the movie Black Panther released last year, a middle grade novel released with it. If your young reader is a fan of The Avengers, it’s the perfect middle grade book to whet their appetite between Marvel films. Before T’Challa was the Black Panther, he was a young prince of isolated, technologically-advanced Wakanda—but when his father decides to send T’Challa and his best friend M’Baku to school in America, technological advancements aren’t much help. They can’t teach you how to hide your identity, or make new friends, or solve the mystery of what’s happening around the school. But they sure do help when you decide to try and save your new friends from an ancient evil.