TJ Klune (The House in the Cerulean Sea) shines in his YA debut, The Extraordinaries, a creative exploration of identity among queer kids and superheroes.
Gay 16-year-old Nick Bell is a proud author of online queer fiction based on the Extraordinaries, two actual superheroes in his city. While he feels a strong pull toward the superhero world, he spends a significant amount of his time grappling with living with ADHD: "Some people were born to be an Extraordinary. Nick was born to have a million thoughts in the space of a minute that often led to splitting headaches." Still, though, Nick has a quest: he is going to become (and date) a superhero. As the story unfolds, hints about the Extraordinaries' mysterious identities are cleverly revealed but, even as the superhero characters develop and become more nuanced, Nick obliviously sticks to his plan, missing all the clues around him.
Klune beautifully balances weightier topics (whether to medicate teens, intimate relationships, the death of a loved one), nail-biting superhero battle scenes and hilarious dialogue that emphasizes Nick's endearing--sometimes awkward--rapidly moving thoughts. As Nick explains to best friend Seth, "One moment, I was reading about diamond mines in Latin America, and the next, I'm following step-by-step instructions on making an idea board on Cosmo." Klune's deliberate use of traditional comic book themes, such as masking one's identity, mirror common struggles faced by neurodiverse and LGBTQIAP+ youth; this thoughtful approach urges readers to embrace their true selves. --Kieran Slattery, freelance reviewer, teacher, co-creator of Gender Inclusive Classrooms