Recommendation - published work
Aug. 26th, 2010 02:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Hero by Perry Moore
Thom is a teenager, a basketball player, an okay guy. He has seizures sometimes. Thom's mom disappeared a while ago and his dad never manages to get ahead at work - everyone blames him for a disaster that happened a while ago. Thom's dad hates superheros and gay people. Thom thinks he's probably gay and something weird is happening to his body that might...possibly...be the first signs of super powers.
Structured on the superhero genre, this YA novel is an amazing addition to the capes-and-tights mythos. Despite the presence of a few openly queer superheroes in mainstream comics now, most representations of sexual minorities are tragic, stereotyped, or both. Hero is a valiant remedy to that, letting the reader into the main character's head as he struggles with his sexuality and his burgeoning powers, a privilege that the comics medium can not really support. Beyond the soul-searching, though, there are plenty of adventures and conflict in the true super-heroic style, as Moore pays heed to the tropes on which he draws.
Perry Moore mentioned that he may, possibly, be heading up a television series based on Hero!
Thom is a teenager, a basketball player, an okay guy. He has seizures sometimes. Thom's mom disappeared a while ago and his dad never manages to get ahead at work - everyone blames him for a disaster that happened a while ago. Thom's dad hates superheros and gay people. Thom thinks he's probably gay and something weird is happening to his body that might...possibly...be the first signs of super powers.
Structured on the superhero genre, this YA novel is an amazing addition to the capes-and-tights mythos. Despite the presence of a few openly queer superheroes in mainstream comics now, most representations of sexual minorities are tragic, stereotyped, or both. Hero is a valiant remedy to that, letting the reader into the main character's head as he struggles with his sexuality and his burgeoning powers, a privilege that the comics medium can not really support. Beyond the soul-searching, though, there are plenty of adventures and conflict in the true super-heroic style, as Moore pays heed to the tropes on which he draws.
Perry Moore mentioned that he may, possibly, be heading up a television series based on Hero!