Captain Nobody

July 27, 2009
Tired of being ignored by classmates, Newt and his two best friends decide to create Halloween costumes that will make them stand out and let them discover their “inner other.... who we would
be if we didn't have to be us
.” But before Halloween arrives, 10-year-old Newt's world shatters: his football star brother, Chris, is knocked unconscious in the season's final game and lies comatose in the hospital. At the last minute, Newt fashions a superhero Halloween costume from Chris's old clothes and dubs himself Captain Nobody. Wearing this outfit during the ensuing days, Newt ushers home a lost man with dementia, foils a jewelry-store robbery and inadvertently brings traffic to a standstill, clearing the freeway just in time for a plane's emergency landing. Despite his spotlight-grabbing heroics, the frustrated boy laments, “I can't even save my own brother.” Though Pitchford (The Big One-Oh
) builds suspense adeptly, the novel takes some improbable turns. Yet the young narrator's earnest voice—and his raw sense of helplessness—are real and affecting. Ages 8–12.

September 1, 2009
Gr 3-6-Ten-year-old Newt Newman is used to fading into the background: his parents are workaholics; his brother, Chris, is a high school football star; and he and his best buddies, JJ and Cecil, are ignored at school. Determined to get noticed this Halloween, the three friends vow to come up with original costumes. But then Chris takes a hit and is knocked into a coma during the Big Game. Worried about his brother, and with his parent camped out at the hospital, Newt has no interest in creating a costume. When JJ and Cecil arrive at his house for trick-or-treating, they help him transform an assortment of Chris's outgrown clothes into a get-up for a new superhero: Captain Nobody! Enjoying the newfound confidence he experiences behind his mask, Newt continues to wear the costume, and opportunities start cropping up for him to save the daywhether helping a confused old man find his way home or stopping a jewelry store robbery, Captain Nobody gets the job done. But when it comes to his brother's coma, even Captain Nobody is powerless]or is he? Newt is a likable individual, albeit quite mature for 10. Secondary characters are somewhat stereotypical, but they don't get in the way of the story's fast pace and charm. Pitchford's screenwriting background is apparent: the book reads like a summertime feel-good movie. Kids who have longed for their own superhero powers will eat this up."Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2009
Grades 4-6 Ten-year-old Newt is accustomed to living in the shadow of his older brother Chris, the local high-school football hero. When the Big Game ends with Chris in a coma, Newt begins to emerge from his usual anonymity. In the days that follow, he wears the cape and mask of his made-up Halloween persona, Captain Nobody, and he seems to magically grow into the heroic role: foiling a jewelry store robbery, clearing a landing path for a plane in distress, and climbing a water tower to save another boy. Readers will enjoy watching this Everyboy protagonist cast off his customary timidity and try on a different approach to problems. Though Newts heroic achievements are as improbable as the storys outcome is predictable, he is a sympathetic character and his wry, first-person narrative shows that he doesnt take his newfound renown too seriously. The intriguing jacket art will draw readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)