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HERO
by Perry Moore
Reviewed by Brian Farrey
Hardcover
Hyperion Books for Children
ISBN: 9781423101956
432 pages

Author Biography | Review | Excerpt
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-- ABOUT THE BOOK --

Thom Creed is used to being on his own. Even as a high school basketball star, he has to keep his distance because of his father. Hal Creed had once been one of the greatest and most beloved superheroes of The League-until the Wilson Towers incident. After that Thom's mother disappeared and his proud father became an outcast.

The last thing in the world Thom would ever want is to disappoint his father. So Thom keeps two secrets from him: First is that he's gay. The second is that he has the power to heal people. Initially, Thom had trouble controlling his powers. But with trial and error he improves, until he gets so good that he catches the attention of the League and is asked to join. Even though he knows it would kill his dad, Thom can't resist. When he joins the League, he meets a motley crew of other heroes, including tough-talking Scarlett, who has the power of fire from growing up near a nuclear power plant; Typhoid Larry, who makes everyone sick by touching them, but is actually a really sweet guy; and wise Ruth, who has the power to see the future. Together these unlikely heroes become friends and begin to uncover a plot to kill the superheroes. Along the way, Thom falls in love, and discovers the difficult truth about his parents' past.

This is moving, funny, and wonderfully original novel shows that things are not always what they seem, and love can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

-- AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY --

Perry Moore (www.PerryMooreStories.com) is a best-selling author, film producer, screenwriter, and director, best known as the executive producer of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Moore grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia and attended Norfolk Academy. He majored in English at the University of Virginia, where he was an Echols Scholar, and later served as an intern in the White House for President Bill Clinton before starting his entertainment career in talent and development at MTV and VH1. He then worked as part of the original production team for "The Rosie O'Donnell Show." Moore next worked as a creative executive for the late filmmaker Ted Demme and producer Joel Stillerman before joining Walden Media, where he developed and oversaw such film projects as I Am David, the film adaptation of Anne Holm’s acclaimed novel NORTH TO FREEDOM.

A longtime production executive for Walden Media, Moore was instrumental in bringing The Chronicles of Narnia series to the company. After landing the rights to the C. S. Lewis series, he moved into a production deal with the company. The film represents his first as a motion picture executive producer.

He continues his role as executive producer of Prince Caspian, due to be released in 2008, and will continue with the third in the Narnia franchise, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He is such a rabid fan of the Chronicles of Narnia, he hopes to see all seven books in the series adapted into films.

In addition to his work in production and development, The CS Lewis Company appointed Moore to write THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion, a New York Times Bestseller.

A longtime fan of children’s literature and comic books, Moore’s first novel, HERO, the first of a fantasy series about a group of modern-day superheroes, was published by Hyperion August 28, 2007. The young adult novel tells the story of the world’s first gay teen superhero. A big screen adaptation is in the works with Stan Lee.

He is also co-directing a documentary about legendary children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak with partners Hunter Hill and filmmaker Spike Jonze.

Moore is a partner in producer-actress Allison Sarofim and Hunter Hill’s “66 Productions.” Their first movie, written and directed by Moore and Hill, Lake City, is due out next year. The film, inspired by a heartrending childhood memory of Hill’s, tells the story of a mother (Sissy Spacek) and son (Troy Garity, Jane Fonda’s real-life son) who reunite under desperate circumstances years after a family tragedy drove them light years apart. The film also stars Rebecca Romijn, Drea De Matteo, Keith Carradine, and Dave Matthews.

Moore will continue to write books, one of his major passions. His next book is a mysterious novel about triplets, two boys and a girl, who inherit both a curse and a gift, and must struggle to make sense of their emerging heritage in order to save the world. Moore promises the novel will re-define the werewolf mythology.

And of course, there are many more stories to tell about Thom Creed and his superhero colleagues in the pages of the sequels to come for HERO.

-- REVIEW --

Almost for as long as we've been able to imagine superheroes, they've often served as metaphors. An invisible superhero might serve as a metaphor for someone who feels ignored. The ability to freeze water might be reflective of that hero's cold personality. But more often than not, one of the strongest metaphors to emerge --- especially in the last 20 years or so --- surrounds the need of most heroes to keep their true identity secret. The secrecy is often done in the name of protecting family or privacy. We most often have an ordinary person who presents themselves to the real world while they live an alternate life as someone who is far from ordinary.

It doesn't require much imagination to see the correlation between this and the lives led by many closeted homosexuals. In his debut young adult novel, Perry Moore takes this natural leap to create an intelligent and thoughtful story about a closeted gay teen who struggles with more than one secret identity.

HERO is the story of Thom Creed, a talented high school basketball player living with his father (a "powerless" hero --- ala Batman --- who retired in disgrace following a disaster several years ago) after his mother's disapperance. Plagued by seizures, Thom begins to see a connection between his ailment and emerging superpowers that allow him to heal anything living. Knowing how his father hates superheroes (all of whom turned their back on him following the disaster), he vows to keep his abilities secret. Even more importantly, however, Thom knows he has to keep another change in his life from his father: Thom figures out that he's gay.

But Thom's effort to keep a lid on all the secrets in his life is endangered when a league of superheroes witnesses him using his abilities and invites him to join their team. Suddenly, Thom's life is more hectic than ever, and it's only a matter of time --- between fighting the forces of evil and trying to keep everything from his father --- that things begin to unravel.

While the book seemed to start slowly, Moore's skillful use of language and memorable characters kept me engaged throughout. It's quite easy to love Ruth, an elderly hero with precognitive abilities who casually watches her predictions for the future unfold. And while Thom very easily could have devolved into a stereotypical, angst-ridden, horny teen, he instead is presented with a great deal of compassion for his situation. Most memorable for me is when Thom, haunted by the disappearance of his mother, must come to terms with some uncomfortable truths about the nature of her relationship with his father.

Although some will find it easy to dismiss or label this as another "gay teen" book, doing so would be a colossal mistake. Moore explores issues of not only gay identity but the nature of friendship, the dangers of keeping secrets and the agony associated with first love (and first crushes).

Moore, a producer of the recent Chronicles of Narnia movies, excels at juggling a multi-faceted story, well-drawn characters and a quirky sense of humor that blends seamlessly with the narrative. Instead of wallowing in the fantastic, HERO feels very real and plausible in its ability to balance the fantastic elements with genuine emotion. I'm looking forward to reading more from this talented new voice.

--- Reviewed by Brian Farrey (emohawk9000@gmail.com)

-- EXCERPT --

I stomped on the gas pedal of Dad's Camaro to make it go as fast as it could. Dad was always careful to observe the speed limit. You should have seen the papers the time he got a traffic ticket for rolling through a right-hand turn on a red light.

There was a line of traffic stopped ahead, a row of police cars blocking the road in front of them. I pulled over onto the shoulder and sped forward to the front of the line. A cop rushed over and waved his hands for me to stop.

"You can't go into the city," he said as he walked over to my window. "The governor has declared a state of emergency. We can't let anyone in or ---"

He stopped short when he saw what I was wearing.

Although it was a little broad in the shoulders, my father's old costume fit nearly perfectly.

"Where are you going?" A stupefied grin appeared on the officer's face.

I put the car in first.

"I'm going to save the world."

Then I floored it.

Excerpted from HERO © Copyright 2007 by Perry Moore. Reprinted with permission by Hyperion Books for Children, Inc. All rights reserved.

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