It can be tough being a nobody, but Newt Newman has survived it so far. His older brother, Chris, is a popular football star: so cool, that everyone’s heard of Chris, but nobody’s heard of Newt. Newt is 10, freckled, skinny, and short. Newt has always felt as if people look right through him, as if he’s not there at all. Don’t get me wrong: Newt does have friends – two of them – and they’re very close. He also likes drawing sketches of superheroes, and he’s pretty good at it. Newt’s just a normal kid who doesn’t call attention to himself, ever.
But then the unthinkable happens. During one of Chris’s football games, Chris gets hit in the head – really, really hard. So hard that Chris goes into a coma. What’s worse, a kid gets blamed for collision, and only Newt knows that the kid isn’t responsible. And one other very weird fact: Newt starts dressing up as Captain Nobody. Yeah, it sounds like a joke, and it sort of is, but he also starts doing some pretty heroic stuff. Is this just because his older brother is in a coma, or is the real Newt capable of amazing feats? Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford.
Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford. 2009: G. P. Putnam/Penguin Young Readers Group. 195 p. Virginia Readers’ Choice 2011-2012. Booktalk to intermediate grades.
