The Super Life of Ben Braver: The Super Life of Ben Braver 1
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley May 5, 2018
Author Marcus Emerson
Distributor: Allen and Unwin Childrens
ISBN: 9781760631680
Publisher: Allen and Unwin Childrens
Release Date: March 2018
Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com
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What a hoot of a book. Regardless of how old you are, and let it be said I am older than most reading this book, it is simply a hugely fun read from beginning to end, with some wonderful comic cartoon drawings dotted here and there to help give an impression of the people, or rather characters in some cases, that appear and disappear throughout the story.
You may be forgiven for thinking this is a watered down version of that popular wizard person everyone knows about when you finish chapter one, but it is definitely not, as Ben Braver as it turns out is completely different.
A series of happenings and his almost obsessive love of comics and super hero’s find Ben in hospital, having come off worse for wear after rescuing a cat from local bully Dexter. While he is in hospital his parents get a visit from Donald Kepler, the head of a boarding school called Kepler Academy for kids with ‘special abilities’! He thinks Ben should be allowed to attend his Academy for a year to see if his ‘special abilities’ develop further.
After much discussion his parents agree and Ben sets off in a small Volkswagen Beetle, driverless of course, with darkened windows, to begin his first day as a new student and to begin what turns out to be a super horrific adventure that stretches even his ‘abilities’ to the very fullest.
Things immediately begin to go from bad to worse when he meets some of the new kids, who have not yet learned to either control or fully develop their special abilities, but when he comes face to face with Dexter and his even scarier sister, his heart sinks and he realises that life is really going to get tricky.
Ben makes friends with Noah and Abigail, sharing a room with Noah. After Noah accidently burns a hole in the ceiling, leaving a gaping hole in the floor of Abigail’s room which is directly above theirs, the three decide they need to join forces to look out for each other in this seriously weird place, filled with even weirder people.
It is not until things go seriously wrong with some sort of infection turning many of the other kids into zombies with massive, if s not super powers, that Ben realises something is wrong, wrong, wrong and needs to be fixed.
Can his superpowers, which somehow have not yet developed, along with his friends, whose powers are now fully fledged, save the kids and the Academy and themselves, or will the very, very worst, happen?
Is Ben Braver just an ordinary kid in an extraordinary situation, or is he really a superhero in disguise?
This latest book , and the first in a new series, from bestselling author Marcus Emerson is sure to be a hit with anyone who loves a great superhero story filled with fun, zombies, skeletons and perhaps a little bit of ‘magic when the going gets tough!