Friday, October 28, 2022

Miles Morales: Stranger Tides

Reynolds, Justin A. Miles Morales: Stranger Tides
October 18, 2022 by Graphix
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

After his adventures in Shock Waves, Miles is back. Vex and Trinity are still causing trouble, and his friend Ganke is trying to help him. After there is a weird incident at a video game launch that causes people in the city to be frozen, Miles discovers that a shadowy figure called the Stranger is behind the occurrence. He's unhappy with the behavior of people on Earth and taking extreme measures to wipe them out. In order to reverse the freezing process, Miles has to work with Trinity. Since his uncle is frozen and is involved in an auto accident, Miles has a vested interest in figuring out what's going on in order to save his uncle. The freezing is caused by a computer game (think Hautman's The Flinkwater Factor), so he works closely with Ganke trying to figure it all out, but when Ganke is also frozen, it's up to Miles to save the day on his own. This doesn't go smoothly, especially since Vex is working against Trinity. Will they still be able to take down the Stranger?
Strengths: Miles is a fun character who is a bit ambivalent about being a superhero, which seems on target for young people today. I have to save the world? Fine, but can I finish this game on the XBox first? Not everyone who is frozen is playing video games; some, like Miles' uncle, are accidentally exposed. I like that Miles occasionally gets help from people like Mr. Granderson, and his family is supportive as well. This reads very much like a comic book, which is appropriate given the topic, and has lots of chase scenes, things  blowing up, and action on the pages. 
Weaknesses: It's helpful to be familiar with the first book; this was a bit confusing at first even though I had read that one. 
What I really think: Jason Reynolds' novel about Miles Morales' Spider Man has circulated well, but I haven't bought Shock Waves yet. I don't get a lot of requests for books set in the Marvel Universe, which is a little surprising. I should see if I can get a student to check out Squirrel Girl! 

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