Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales by Jason Reynolds

Review by Lauren

source: copy from publisher; all opinions are my own

Official Summary (Add on Goodreads): Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man.

But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his dad’s advice and focus on saving himself.

As Miles tries to get his school life back on track, he can’t shake the vivid nightmares that continue to haunt him. Nor can he avoid the relentless buzz of his spidey-sense every day in history class, amidst his teacher’s lectures on the historical “benefits” of slavery and the importance of the modern-day prison system. But after his scholarship is threatened, Miles uncovers a chilling plot, one that puts his friends, his neighborhood, and himself at risk.

It’s time for Miles to suit up.

Review: The character of Miles Morales was created by Brian Michael Bendis, who introduced him in comic form. I have not read any of these, but after reading Jason Reynolds’ novel adaptation, I very much hope to! Miles is a typical teen, who attends a boarding school during the week, has crushes, and a best friend who is always there to make him laugh (though he’s much more than just the funny sidekick). However, he’s also Spider Man, so that adds another level of pressure on this teen.

I saw Spider Man: Homecoming this past Saturday and I really loved it! ? I think Tom Holland was great as Peter and it was nice that he seemed like an actual teenager! *** I also recently read Miles Morales- a Spider Man novel by Jason Reynolds. It comes out on August 1 and I highly recommend it! I definitely need a finished copy now! ?

A post shared by Lauren Becker (@laurenashleybecker) on Jul 17, 2017 at 2:51pm PDT

I love that Spider Man is a black teenager. It feels more current and real. I mean, Spider Man has always been from New York City and if any city is full of diversity, that would be one, so it makes sense to change Spider Man up as time went on. While it would be easy to change Spider Man’s race and never make note of it, Reynolds doesn’t do that. There is very much a theme of racism and how it can greatly affect people’s lives. I thought it was handled really well, from my perspective. I love that such an important topic (especially in this day and age) is being tackled so well in a Spider Man novel. People might go in for one thing, and come out learning a lot more about something else, but that’s good! It meets readers where they’re at, and that’s needed sometimes.

I also loved how much family was featured in this book. Family meant a lot to Miles and he wanted to do well in school because he knew how hard his family worked. His dad is the only adult in Miles’ life that knows he’s Spider Man, but he make sure that Miles knows it’s important to help out your community and not just strangers.

Miles is a great character and I loved figuring out the mystery along with him. There are definitely some twists and turns that keep you from figuring everything out from the get-go. Must read, and can we see Miles on screen now?

This book comes out tomorrow, so one more day to pre-order!