The League of Unexceptional Children

July 20, 2015
This series opener from Daneshvari (the School of Fear series) pokes sly fun at the pressure to raise future valedictorians and CEOs, by turning the tables on the classic trope of an average kid discovering secret greatness. Twelve-year-old students Jonathan Murray and Shelley Brown have unimpressive intellectual capacities and banal personalities—which makes them perfect candidates for the League of Unexceptional Children. The secret organization is facing a crisis: the U.S. vice president, one of two people in possession of a code that could compromise national security, has been kidnapped. Jonathan and Shelley need to decide if they trust the League before racing against the clock to try to find the v-p. Daneshvari’s fast-paced, twisty story is chock-full of clever humor (“You are not James Bond,” an elder agent explains. “You are James Bond’s cousins who are routinely left out of the family newsletter for both a lack of interest and your relatives’ general forgetfulness regarding your existence”) and will give readers a new appreciation for the average, as well as an appetite for the next book. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sarah Burnes, Gernert Company.