Clara Humble and the Not-So-Super Powers. Anna Humphrey. Illustrated by Lisa Cinar. Toronto, ON: Owlkids Books, 2016. 221 pp., hardcover, $16.95. ISBN 978-1-77147-147-3. Grades 2-5 / Ages 7-10. Review by Janet Beauchamp. *** /4

excerpt:

Becky rolled her eyes to let me know that she wasn't scared in the least, but the joke was on her because the next thing I knew, my Pepto-Bismol bottle tipped, landing sideways on the picnic table, and a small waterfall of warm, stinky hot dog water came splashing out, right onto her one-of-a-kind, genuine-Italian-leather, don't-step-on-them-puh-lease shoes, … It had been a total slam dunk. And despite the credit the Gator (mascot) had given me, I was almost positive I hadn't touched the Pepto-Bismol bottle that had started the whole chain reaction. All the same, the entire series of events had been just a little too amazing to be a coincidence, if you asked me.

Clara Humble is a nine-year-old girl who thinks she may have super powers. She and her friend Bradley battle it out with their rivals from the other school in their area. Becky and her friends are track and field opponents who cause all kinds of issues. The battle between the Gators and the Raccoons heightens when the two schools have to share a building because mold has been found in the walls of the other school.

      Clara's supposed super powers make for quite an interesting storyline. The characters are well-developed, and the story is interesting. However, the novel has random illustrated scenes of @Cat, a character who's part-computer, part-cat, and all awesome. @Cat, created by Clara, is described as the hero by Clara. While I enjoyed the illustrations relating to the story, I found @Cat distracting and not exactly connected to the flow of the book. Interestingly, my 12-year-old daughter found @Cat distracting as well, but my almost nine-year-old who fits the target audience thought the @Cat comic addition was cool!

Recommended.

Janet Beauchamp, a high school teacher, teacher-librarian and mother of three girls, lives in L'Amable, ON.

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