Kid Normal

Greg James and Chris Smith

Bloomsbury Children’s

400pp, £6.99 (paperback)

ISBN: 9781408884539

I was initially sceptical when I first received copies of this book, by Radio 1 presenters Greg James and Chris Smith, to share with my Years 5 and 6 after-school book club. There were two reasons for this: I am always wary of celebrity authors (with notable exceptions, of course), and I can never understand how two people can write a book together.

I was wrong. Kid Normal is a fast-paced, humorous adventure with likeable heroes and a suitably ridiculous, evil villain. The hero, Murph, is actually far from heroic - on paper, anyway. When he is accidentally enrolled in a school for superheroes, he feels like an outsider. Luckily, he bonds with other pupils who, although they do have superpowers, also don’t fit in. These characters are one of the great strengths of this book. The central message - of a “normal” child being the hero and not needing a superpower to be super - is well-presented and accessible.

This is a funny book. Some of the humour is quite silly and there are loads of puns, some of which feel like they are aimed at parents reading aloud to their children. It might be a good one for engaging reluctant readers because of the speed at which the action unfolds and the humour. Some of the illustrations in the proof copy I had were missing but I could see from those that were there that they were a great addition to the text.

The Year 5 and 6 children I read it with were probably a little too old for this book and I will be recommending it to Year 4s or as a read-aloud to younger children.

Fiona Shufflebotham is junior-school librarian at Wimbledon High School, in south-west London

‘I found the humour a bit silly and distracting’

Kid Normal was a very quick read for me. The story is fast-moving, and the idea of not needing a superpower to be a hero is a good one, but I found the humour a bit silly and distracting. There is a strange section in the middle, which is supposed to break the tension in the plot, with a silly song about otters, but I just thought it was weird. I also didn’t find the villain, Lord Nektar, very convincing at all. On the plus side, the illustrations looked like they were going to be fun. I think this book is aimed at younger children - it is the sort of book that my younger brother might enjoy.

Thea, Year 6

‘An enjoyable and exciting read’

I loved this book! Murph Cooper is “normal”, and his life is a bit rubbish because he has had to move schools a lot, but he accidentally ends up in a superhero school. I thought the idea of a superhero school was brilliant. Murph does, however, have the superpower of being brave, which is what wins the day in the end. My favourite character was Rain Shadow and I loved the humour in the book. Some of my friends thought The Tale of Alan Rabbit interlude at a really tense point in the plot was stupid, but I thought it was very funny and really broke the tension. Overall, it was an enjoyable and exciting read that I will recommend to my friends.

Sumi, Year 5

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