These Books Among Us

As most of you reading this know, there seems to be a trend in the "hero complex" in young adult, middle grade, and children's novels. Stories like Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, and Whichwood all have younger people saving the world. But why has this become the norm for a lot of current writings? Well, let's explore that together. First off, what is the superhero complex and how can we try to identify the features of it in our literature and our lives? The superhero complex is often when a character has a desperate need to protect the people around them. They do not necessarily think of their own safety in the matter, only that they must protect. This person will have an inherent desire and compulsion to help people. There is also a need to do it all alone, to hopefully trim down the list of casualties. Many of the identifiable features of this include over protection, a disinterest in self preservation, and being quite controlling over any and all situatio...

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi (416 pages) Date Read: 14 August 2016 My Rating: 4.75 Stars Synopsis: The bestselling author of the Shatter Me series takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating new middle grade adventure where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places. There are only three things that matter to twelve-year-old Alice Alexis Queensmeadow: Mother, who wouldn't miss her; magic and color, which seem to elude her; and Father, who always loved her. The day Father disappears from Ferenwood he takes nothing but a ruler with him. But it's been almost three years since then, and Alice is determined to find him. She loves her father even more than she loves adventure, and she's about to embark on one to find the other. But bringing Father home is no small matter. In order to find him she'll have to travel through the mythical, dangerous land of Furthermore, where down can...