posted on 24 Aug 2023

Stink: Superhero Superfan by Megan McDonald, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

This is the latest spin-off story from a popular US book series starring Stink’s sister, Judy Moody. It appealed to me because my seven year old grandson is currently discovering the joys of chapter books, especially if they are funny and packed with plentiful illustrations like this one. Could this be the start of a new collection?

Stink and his friend are bursting with enthusiasm for forensic science which is the latest focus of Saturday Science Club. When the teacher announces that the following week will involve something with the enticing title of ‘Superhero Science’ which will explore superpowers like x-ray vision, invisibility and speed, they are understandably captivated.

Stink needs to come up with a super hero power to explore in more depth, but there are so many to choose from. While he is mulling this over with his sister’s help, the family is busy organising a yard sale which involves the brother and sister looking closely at abandoned toys and games including old bath toys, bouncy balls and yo-yos with missing strings. 

The desire to make money to buy more cool stuff is an incentive, but I know how difficult it is to get rid of much-loved possessions. As he looks through the many boxes, he discovers a pile of vintage comics featuring the half- lizard Super Gecko who defies gravity, sees colours in the dark, catches enemies with the flick of his tongue and has the sticking power of an intermolecular force. Stink is very interested but becomes even more intrigued when he starts receiving mysterious notes from Super Gecko himself! Will he be able to find out his secret identity using his newly honed forensic skills?    

The comics apparently belonged to grandma Lou who passed them down to Stink’s Dad. I really liked this intergenerational connection that could lead to plenty of discussion about the thrill of comics with children in a classroom. When a pink haired teenage girl offers the grand sum of twenty dollars for the comic collection at the yard sale, he is torn. His friends suggest that they might be quite valuable and that he could get a better price, but Stink is more concerned that he hasn’t had time to read them himself.

Keeping the comics for a while is a great decision because Stink and his friends not only enjoy reading his exciting adventures but also decide to learn more about geckos. I loved their after-dark adventure armed with binoculars, torches and night vision goggles and research from the encyclopaedia and absolutely no adults in sight to spoil the fun.    

 I strongly recommend this up-beat story and dearly hope that it might inspire a clamour for comics as an essential part of literature and cultural history and lead to more children finding out about geckos, visiting comic bookstores, creating comics and even founding a Science club that looks at superheroes.    

Available from Walker Books, you will be able to get this from your local independent bookshop - who will be happy to order it if they don't have it already on their shelves.

Karen Argent

August 2023