The Rise of the Young Adult Super Hero

Young adult literature has seen a recent influx of the superhero. Already within the realm of heroes such as Katniss, Harry Potter, and many seemingly normal children, these superheroes are shown as more than just ordinary students or children. They are more than just the “chosen one.” They are different. Outsiders. But that being said, though they do have extraordinary powers, many of them are relatable to kids now. They are orphans, adopted, from non “nuclear” families, something that is much more prevalent in today’s society. But this is not shown as a bad thing. These heroes are more than just super, they are people who come from different backgrounds and want to make a difference in the world.

Books like this, as well as being an introduction into nerd culture as shown in last week’s post, show kids that it is okay to be different and to use their talents to help the world become a better place.

Now I know that a few of these books have yet to come out, so I cannot say what the messages are going to be once they are, but knowing a bit about these authors, I can make educated guesses from their writing styles in their other novels.

There are five authors (books/series) that I want to specifically talk about today. Though I know there are more out there and I am sure there are a ton more coming, I wanted to limit this post to these five, specifically.

For Marvel Comics, Margaret Stohl wrote the Black Widow young adult novels with some praise. While this is not the backstory of Black Widow I was expecting, she was able to introduce a new female character, Red Widow, into the picture. What was cool about this, is this character is not widely known in either the comics, or the films and television shows. So Stohl was able to make this character her own and, even better, make her relatable to her young adult readers. This legacy will be continued with Shannon Hale & Dean Hale who are also going to be releasing Marvel licensed young adult novels in the next year or so. I am looking forward to reading their work!

DC Comics is coming out with an entire line of young adult superhero novels that I am extremely excited about.

Leigh Bardugo, author of the Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows, will be releasing her first novel in this line following a teenaged Diana Prince, our favorite Amazonian princess, also known as Wonder Woman, and her journey to become the badass we all know and love today. Now I have purposely stayed away from reading any of the synopses on this book since it does come out today and I want to be surprised at every turn. But I know, with my entire heart, this book is going to be amazing. This, as I said before, will be Diana as a teenager, so we will get to see her struggle with the changes in her life. And, hopefully, there will be no male leads to “change her life” because she is a strong and capable woman who can do that for herself. Bardugo is known for writing extremely strong (physically and in their willpower) female characters, so I have no doubt this will be Wonder-ful.

Sarah J Maas, the author of the amazing A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass Series, is to publish the Cat Woman novel in 2018. I cannot stress how excited I am for this book. Maas is amazing at developing complex characters and forcing her readers to see multiple sides to a person’s story. They are not singularly good or bad, but a combination of both. Much like her other novels, I feel she is going to be able to keep up suspense and intrigue throughout. (Also, I would like to give her major props. Not only does she publish about two books per year, she has also done this during a very difficult time in her life. So, Sarah, if you by chance read this, thank you from the bottom of my heart for writing some of my all-time favorite novels and you and your family are all in my thoughts.) This book will not be a Cat-astrophe.

Matt De la Peña is the one author in this set I am not familiar with. He wrote the Infinity Ring Series and quite a few stand alones as well, but in this set, he is going to be exploring the teenaged life of Superman. Now, we do have more source material on Superman in the form of Smallville, but I have a feeling de la Peña is going to make this a different story. Superman had a complicated childhood and I am excited to see where this author takes it!

Marie Lu, known for the Legends and Young Elites series, is going to be writing the Batman novel. Again, I am not as familiar with Lu’s writing, so I cannot speak to her writing on a personal level, but I know a lot of people who are interested in her novels. Batman is another character who can be seen with both a hero and villain, so I am excited to see how Lu decides to deal with this.

I understand there are some flaws in the superhero trope. It may create more self-sacrificing behavior, or possibly more alienation because these kids do not see themselves as good as these heroes. The trope, making one person be the person to save the world, can be daunting and make people feel overwhelmed about what they are supposed to do in the world. But I think being exposed to different kinds of thinking (such as Wonder Woman’s ideals about women being able to kick ass as well as men) are good for young readers. They can see what they may be able to do, even if they do it as a team, to help save the world from injustices.

These heroes are well known and well loved by millions around the world, so giving them a stage in their lives (especially this awkward transitional stage) allows them to be seen as more relatable and human (even if they are not, strictly speaking).

Heroes show children that they can do good in their lives, even if they do not have the powers, the gadgets, or the fighting skills. They are able to work hard and (hopefully) learn to use their talents toward a common goal for humanity.

I am excited to see this influx of the superhero in the young adult genre. It will be good to have a surge of this genre in the young adult section. I think this is a genre for more than just teenagers and will be widely accepted by all ages in the near future, if it is not already.

So my question to you is, what are your thoughts on the superhero trope? Is it overused? Are you excited for any of these releases? If so, let me know which ones and your thoughts!

As always, you can catch me on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube at dsbookie. I have a new video up every Thursday and a new blog post up every Tuesday.

Until next time,

Dana