Archvillain: 1 - Softcover

Lyga, Barry

3.52

398 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0545196507 ISBN 13: 9780545196505

Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks, 2011

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Critically acclaimed author Barry Lyga's middle-grade debut ARCHVILLAIN now in paperback!Kyle Camden knows exactly where he was the night Mighty Mike arrived: sneaking around the fallow field behind Bouring Middle School, preparing one of his most ingenious pranks yet.Which is why he couldn't tell anyone where he was. Or what he saw.Those lights everyone saw in the sky weren't tiny meteors burning up in the atmosphere. They were some kind of strange, supercooled plasma that bathed the entire field -- including Kyle -- in alien energies.Unfortunately, the energies also brought Mighty Mike to Earth. Kyle is the only one who knows that Mighty Mike is an alien. Everyone else thinks that Mike is just some kid who stumbled into the field, got beefed up on meteor juice, lost his memory, and decided to start rescuing kittens from trees. But Kyle knows the truth. And he'll do anything in his power to stop Mighty Mike, even if it means being an Archvillain!</

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About the Author:

Barry Lyga is the author of ARCHVILLAIN and THE MAD MASK, the first two novels of Kyle Camden’s adventures. He’s also the author of several critically acclaimed YA novels including THE ASTONISHING ADVENTURES OF FANBOY AND GOTH GIRL, as well as its follow-up, GOTH GIRL RISING; BOY TOY; and HERO-TYPE. Barry lives in Brooklyn, New York. When he’s not writing he uses his superpowers to fight crime.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 5-7–Sixth-grader Kyle is smart, popular, and the planner of high-quality pranks. Then an encounter with a mysterious “space plasma” leaves him with cosmic intellect, super-strength, and the ability to fly. Kyle loves his new skills, but decides it's safest to keep them under wraps. However, the plasma has brought something else as well–a strange boy whom Kyle strongly suspects is an alien. Mighty Mike has superpowers too–but he isn't shy about exercising them in public. Mike quickly becomes a sensation with adults as well as kids, even though his good deeds don't always go smoothly. Kyle resents Mike taking over his top-dog status and suspects that the newcomer may have more sinister schemes in mind. He plans a super prank to expose him, but things get disastrously out of hand. There is a subtle underlying message about perception vs. reality. Kyle is not a particularly admirable character. He is self-centered and frequently uses his newfound powers to manipulate people. Much of his vaunted popularity seems to rest on his ability to humiliate others, especially in setting up grudge pranks on request. His crowd is quick to switch allegiance when a new sensation comes along. The author takes some sly digs at popular culture as well. The question of Mike's true identity is left unresolved. Is he an earnest, if somewhat na�ve superhero or are Kyle's rather cynical suspicions on track? Who is the good guy and who is really the archvillain? Tune in next time....Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
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