Joshua Dread

Joshua Dread #1

by Lee Bacon

He wants to save the world.
His parents want to destroy it.

When your parents are supervillains, it’s hard to have a normal life. In the past two days, Joshua’s parents have tried to destroy the world, the houseplant has threatened to kill him, and his body has started doing weird stuff. Really weird stuff. Then his parents give him a book to help explain his new Gyft. It turns out Joshua has a superpower, just like them. But he doesn’t have to use it for evil, right?

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Superheroes, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Adventure, Childrens

269 pages, Paperback

Published February 1, 2013

About the author

I grew up in College Station, TX and first began writing in elementary school. I would write stories and poems with the intention of making my classmates laugh. Twenty years later, I used this same technique to write my first kid’s book.

Over the years, I’ve worked a lot of different jobs—farm laborer, art gallery assistant, bartender, assistant literary agent—before settling on the two jobs that I currently hold: Writer and freelance translator. I now live in Brooklyn with my wife and two cats.

Reviews

[stu · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Updated)
Well, where do I start.
um... This was an interesting book, it was one of my random reads. So I randomly decided to read it.

I liked the book mostly, I just sorta expected more to happen in the book. It wasn't a bad book, but I just wished more had happened. In the beginning it was going really slow and then it suddenly went fast. I liked that it went fast but, I kinda might've liked the slow part better, cause the fast part was very fast and everything went Woosh! Woosh!

The story was nice it had superhero stuff-ish (PS I Love superhero stuff-ish), except the story wasn't about them, so it was a nice plot (MOSTLY)

The ending was Boring!!
It should have more of an epic ending not whatever the ending is right now

Last though(s) (I'm gonna try in 3 Words)
1. Pretty Good
2. Could be Better
3. Good Plot-ish
(I know that's not 3 words)

I do want to do read what happens next since there was a blub or something at the end of this book, which I found very interesting, so.. yeah

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some potential. The plot is clever, but it is riddled with holes and the dialog is weak and uninteresting. I have two boys that are avid readers, so over the years, I have read a lot of kid’s fiction with them. This book seems “dumbed down” to me. I don’t think that Bacon respects his audience’s intellect.

That is my opinion of the book, but my 12 year old liked it a lot. I would give it one, maybe two stars, but I’ll up it to three to reflect my son’s enthusiasm.

[Sara Grochowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joshua Dread just can't catch a break... he's not exactly popular at school and to top it off his home life is top secret. After all, his parents are supervillains and are hardly loved by the public. If kids at school knew his parents were the Dread Duo, he'd be even more unpopular. Even his best friend Milton is in the dark about who Joshua really is, but of that starts to change when a new student, Sophie, moves to town.

I love that Joshua Dread has the potential to appeal to a wide variety of audiences. Though it has been marketed as middle grade, and is sure to appeal to boys who love superheros and comics and girls who love adventure, its laugh-0ut-loud humor and clever details are sure to appeal to teens and adults as well.

Though the actual plot of Joshua Dread may not always be entirely unique or surprising, the details give the novel a fresh feel. I especially loved Joshua's mother's experiments. Readers won't soon forget her tofu-eating zombies and mutant ficus, Micus.

Overall, Joshua Dread was a fun start to a new series that is sure to gain a quick following.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about the son of two supervillains, who is trying to keep his identity secret while he develops powers of his own. Clever, funny and pretty straight forward. A good read.

[Massimo Guagliardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very good because Joshua was brave and kept trying to find his parents that have been teleported by smoke creatures. It was exciting because I needed to know if that was true or not. I couldn't stop reading this book. I can't wait to read the next one

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a really great book for that awkward in between age for boys, when they start to think maybe reading isn't cool.

[Liz Friend · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story: Joshua Dread's parents have super powers, but that doesn't make them superheroes. In fact, they're just the opposite--super villains. Joshua's own super powers are beginning to become obvious--so he recognizes the ability in a new girl at school…only to discover that her father, Captain Justice, is the Dread Duo's archenemy! Just because their parents are enemies--are Joshua and Sophie bound to be enemies as well? And what if the most devilish criminal of all requires the work of BOTH heroes and villains to defeat him?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; sexual content G; nudity G; magic and the occult (do super powers fit here?) PG; GLBT content G; adult themes PG; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: Here's a funny, action-packed story that both boys and girls will like if they're looking for something with both adventure and a spot-on middle school voice.

Annotation with spoilers: It's happening all over again: Joshua Dread's parents are unleashing yet another evil plot on the world: this time, the Weather Alternator is going to bring typhoons, floods, tsunamis, and every other kind of weather disaster imaginable unless the government agrees to give them a jet plane filled with $100 bills. Just when it looks like they might get away with it, Captain Justice arrives, complete with his array of weapons with corny names, like the Super Umbrella of Virtue. Thwarted, the Dread Duo returns home. Luckily, no one on the school bus has connected Joshua (currently using a different last name) with the pair. Even his best friend Milton doesn't know his (or his parents') true identity.

Weird things have been happening with Joshua lately--like his seemingly causing a pencil to explode, or leaving a butt-shaped burn mark on the carpet. And when the school bullies come around for their beginning-of-the-year harassment session, something hot and powerful sends them reeling into a nearby locker. What is going on?

When he brings it up to his parents, they confess that they've always known he had some kind of super power, but they wanted him to have a normal childhood and so didn't tell him. Now that it's beginning to manifest, they let him know that they think destruction by fireball, or explosions, are his power.

Just as confusing, there's a new girl at school. As he watches her, Joshua realizes that she does many of the same attention-deflecting behaviors that he's perfected--and when she summarily deals with the bullies the next day, he's sure of it. When he brings it up, she admits it (she's sussed him out, too) and goes so far as to tell him that her father is Captain Justice--sworn enemy of the Dread Duo. Now what? Joshua doesn't admit his parents' identities. He needs to think about this.

Joshua's parents take him to the Vile Fair, where super villains from all around go to hobnob and shop. To everyone's horror, smoke monsters appear and cause many of the super villains to disappear. Included in the number vanished is Phineas Vex, the head of VexaCorp, and the creator of the Vile Fair. As the Dreads are escaping the building, Mr. Dread (who has a PhD in engineering) manages to get a sample of the smoke. At home, he is able to identify it as a tiny bot, manufactured by the Z corporation. A swarm of such bots produces an electric charge that looks like lightning, but which seems to transport the zapped person through space, much like a tele porter. Dr. Dread is convinced that if he can get through the super-tough outer layer, he'd be able to decode the chip inside and follow it to its GPS location.

Joshua, Sophie, and Milton have been assigned to work on a Social Studies project together. Sophie invites them to her house, and the star-struck Milton is awed to meet and get an autograph from his hero, Captain Justice. Joshua manages to get lost and overhear a conversation between Captain Justice and someone named Fink, which makes him even more suspicious of the superhero. Sophie's robot butler is taking the kids home when they notice a disturbance at the only factory in town that produces the kind of acid the Dreads need to get through the Z-bots' outside layer. But even as the Dread Duo is trying to steal it, they are swarmed by the smoke monster/Z-bots and disappear. Joshua and his friends complete the mission, get the acid, and get to the GPS device inside the bot. As they do, he has to come clean to both buddies about his parents' identities, and his own budding super power.

Programming the longitude and latitude into their hover scooters, the three kids head for Maine. There, in an abandoned factory, they find all the kidnapped super villains, and at first, it appears that Captain Justice is the one behind it all. But no--turns out, he's been set up. It's Vex, not really kidnapped at all, who has created an elaborate scheme to make it look like Captain Justice is the one who kidnapped all the villains, planning to vanquish them once and for all, but that Vex escaped and turned the tables on the superhero, who was killed. In this way, Vex (although he has no super powers) would become the most famous villain in the world. It's all about the publicity, you see.

Luckily, Joshua employs his super power, and some quick thinking, to literally bring down the house. Milton, Justice, and Sophie help the groggy, villainous kidnap-ees to escape, and Vex is buried beneath a pile of rubble (although one expects he'll still put in an appearance in book 2). The Dreads accept a ride home from Captain Justice, and although it's awkward, it helps everyone appreciate that they possibly have more in common than they might first have thought. (We wouldn't even be surprised if the Dreads go to work for the good guys at some point.)

Wrapping things up, Joshua and his parents save the school from a zombbie--and although it's one of the ones the Dreads were using while trying to break into a building just before they were kidnapped, no one needs to bring that up, right? For once, Joshua can be proud of his parents' having done a good deed. And that's actually pretty cool.

(There are several incursions of evil robots and a number of explosions and close escapes that keep the story exciting for boys, but which are kind of incidental to the plot. If you want to know where all the mechanical creepy-crawlies fit in, you'll have to read it yourself!)

[Nancy Scordino · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out to see what my grandson (8) was reading so intently in the background during a FaceTime call. It is entertaining and engaging, and just silly enough to keep a child motivated to read.

[Jonathan Scordino · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Definitely written for a younger audience but still entertaining on audiobook.

[AuroraIce]

Bookshelf reread.

Joshua has had to move constantly, always changing his last name, whenever his parents get exposed as the infamous supervillain pair, The Dread Duo. They view it more as the little guy standing up to bullies, strongly dislike heroes, love their son, and constantly try to destroy the world with no regard for how them and Joshua live in the world they’ll destroy. They do this at the beginning of the book, activating their weather machine that will storm the planet or something.

School evacuates and goes to the one safe place, where his parents are with their other device that blocks off the storm for a small location. Their scheme is thwarted by Captain Justice, the most famous superhero. He is rich, cheesy, not very smart, and constantly endorsing products. He has the abilities to fly and super strength, but he also uses a ton of devices to assist him, like a laser barrier and laser beam.

Joshua’s mom is the Botanist, who controls plants and, unrelated, keeps zombies in their basement to use as mindless hungry minions. His dad also has a name, like Professor or something. He has supervision and has to use special glasses to limit his eyesight. He makes a lot of inventions, which are made more dangerous by his mistakes and choices to move on to something else before fixing their risky malfunctions. His mom designs an interacting plant named Micus who does tricks for her and attacks Joshua. She says it’s his brother now and demands they get along, with only Joshua getting in trouble when they don’t.

Though Captain Justice destroyed a lot of stuff fighting the Dread Duo, reports later blame them for the damage, and accuse them of kidnapping a school bus of children just because it drove into their safe zone. Joshua had to interfere before his parents could kill Captain Justice or Captain Justice could kill his parents. Used to losses, they moved on quickly, but Joshua knew they would be mad about the warping of the news, which he learned about from his friend Milton, who obsessively reads superhero tabloids, and is a fan of Captain Justice and all heroes. It suggests Joshua has manged to stay in this town for a while.

The tabloids have also claimed his parents didn’t have the credentials they claim, like his dad isn’t a doctor or scientist, but he is because he got his degree from whatever university. His parents have normal person jobs outside of their villainous alter-egoes.

He even has to endure two bullies.

Joshua overhears his parents talking about when to tell him something, so the next morning he confronts them. They care about him, but they’re often distracted by their own things and don’t properly listen to him, but they listen when he mentions how things have randomly been exploding around him lately. They tell him he’s developing powers, common for Gyfted kids at this age, and he has Spontaneous Combustion, which is rare and powerful and volatile. They give him a handbook, and quotes from it are used at the start of every chapter.

A new girl shows up at school named Sophie, and she attracts a lot of gossip, with people talking about how she lives in a huge mansion with so much security and strange devices and whatnot. Soon she joins Joshua and Milton in a group project and get along well.

Joshua’s parents take him to a villain fair to look at different devices and learn about villain stuff, but the fair is attacked by smoke creatures that begin capturing villains and disappearing them in lightning. Joshua is separated from his parents and almost caught, but Phineus Vex – president of Vex Industries, leading supplier of villain devices – saves him and gets taken himself. Joshua uses his power when throwing tofu to make it a fireball, allowing his dad to collect a piece of the attacking cloud, which is actually made of up trillions nanobots.

The bullies threaten Joshua, but after throwing him in the restroom, they start screaming and he hears banging sounds. He thinks they’re trying to intimidate him, but he comes out and they’re traumatized and lockers are busted. They say it was a monster, but later panic seeing Sophie. She comes to talk to him later after he notices things, and he thinks it’s just to confess she has powers, but she starts by saying she knows he does, because she saw the same handbook she has in his backpack. They bond over this, as it’s rare for two Gyfted kids to meet.

His parents run diagnostics and work to track the source of the bots, which has a special brand and is so tiny only his dad can see. They say to get the coordinates of their origin, they need to carefully crack the shell, only possible using a dangerous chemical that is heavily monitored and barely legal to get.

Sophie reveals Captain Justice is her dad, and Joshua panics and backs off, but the school project requires them to meet up to work on it. Robots show up to attack them as they’re heading out with Milton, and the two reveal their powers in front of him when fighting the robots off, all the while thinking the robots came after them and arguing over their distance. Sophie is mad he got weird after finding about her dad, and Joshua suggests he was uncomfortable around her because he has more in common with her than she realizes but the opposite, which confuses her.

After beating the robots, they confess their powers to Milton, which was dumb and for people who’ve kept this secret their whole lives, very quick. Sophie seems more open with sharing, due to revealing herself to the bullies, because usually her dad exposes them quickly, so she can do little damage by exposing herself since her dad will get it done soon anyway. She calls her robot butler to pick them up in an armored SUV and go to her mansion, where the security is because her dad is protective, and the torture devices people claimed they had were endorsement products.

They meet her dad using equipment that exercises for him and go to her room, but Joshua goes to retrieve a book and gets lost, overhearing a phone call between Captain Justice and someone else talking about using a new method and how it’s so different and people might not like it. Since stuff about the villain fair and how villains have been vanishing from their homes since then appears in tiny mentions in the tabloids, he suspects Captain Justice is behind it.

As Sophie and the butler drive them home, they spot the Dread Duo holding scientists hostage while breaking into a science lab which will has the chemical they need, which they said they would get somehow. Joshua doesn’t think this is the ideal method. Sophie thinks she should call her dad, but Joshua runs out when the smoke creatures show up and abduct his parents. He screams and she realizes who they are to him, showing sympathy rather than hate.

He explains why they were there, so Sophie and Milton join him in searching the lab while it’s still under alarm. He finds the chemical, but when he suggests to Sophie that her dad might be responsible for the cloud monsters, she gets mad and leaves him. It’s understandable that would upset her, but he just lost his parents and has no one at home and is devastated, which makes people act out, so abandoning him was extreme.

Milton is fine with his parents being villains, he thinks all super stuff is cool, though he was obsessive and excited about meeting Sophie’s dad.

At home, Joshua discovers his parents had made it easy and left instructions for using the chemical to find the coordinates, programming everything in anticipation that they might be abducted and Joshua will have to finish it for them. He finds the location, and soon Sophie contacts him and admits she investigated and found lots of super-belts in her dad’s possession with the same brand as the bots.

They, with Milton, take his parents’ hover scooters to the coordinates. When they arrives, Captain Justice’s convertible is outside.

They go inside this old hotel and find all the villain costumes, then encounter smoke monsters that stop chasing them when they reach a tunnel. They hide when they reach a room where Captain Justice is talking to the same person from the phone about unleashing their plan now, and Sophie goes out to confront him. He’s shocked about her arrival, because the butler is programmed not to take her outside of set areas, and he’s confused over her accusations because the plan was actually a rebranding for him, to alter his name and changing costumes.

The guy he was talking to reveals he found a better paying boss and actually lured Captain Justice here to frame him for abducting the villains, but Vex will stop him and save them all, thus increasing villain trust in him and boosting sales. So it was all about money, and no one would suspect Vex because the villains are all asleep in pods on the wall and he was clearly seen rescuing a kid at the fair and being taken with everyone else.

Captain Justice and Sophie are trapped in a container with poison pouring in, which his devices can’t break through while Vex applauds how easy smartphones make things, because all his commands are right there on the phone. Captain Justice will be killed so he can’t refute the claim that he’s responsible. Previously Vex killed his wife, Sophie’s mom, and he became super protective after that, always striving to track Vex down, which is why he moved to Sheepsdale, where Joshua lives, and not because he was aware of the Dread Duo’s location, answering why he came to the scene so quickly at the beginning: because he lived nearby.

Joshua stresses over how to save them. Vex kills the assistant to clear up loose ends. Joshua finally comes out, throwing things that catch on fire due to his powers to knock Vex’s phone away before he can do more stuff. Vex almost shoots him with his own weapon, but Milton saves him, and they get Vex away and take his phone, but struggle to find the right app among all of them to stop the poison smoke pouring into the container with Sophie and her dad and free them from it. The buttons keep doing different things, like opening trapdoors that happen to be where they’re standing, and launching a rocket. They find the right app after Captain Justice and Sophie pass out and manage to wake them up, then free all the villains, who start to awaken.

Vex returns and attacks, but Joshua’s dad, who idolized him, realizes the situation and helps stop him. At some point Joshua’s powers took control and time seemed to freeze as he shot out a blast of light that knocked both him and Vex back. More buttons make the building start crashing in on itself, and they’re sure Vex is crushed in the falling rubble as they drag the barely conscious villains out.

Sophie asks if they know how her dad’s convertible got obliterated, as there’s a burn mark where it had been, and they realize that’s where the rocket went. So they keep quiet.

Police arrive and commend Captain Justice for apprehending the villains, but he says they’re innocent this time and to let them go, he’ll catch them during their next crimes. This is not how that works, since they’re wanted criminals even if they didn’t commit this crime, but the police accept it. He offers the Dread Duo a ride home, and the parents are all conflicted and make small talk, where they do acknowledge the things the others have and do that interest them.

Joshua’s parents are bothered they got saved by Captain Justice and helped him, because they’ve always been enemies and they hate him for thwarting them so much. Previously Joshua had argued against Sophie when she was clueless that her dad tried to kill the dangerous duo too so he wasn’t all that much better than them, but now neither side will kill each other because they don’t want to orphan their kid’s friend. And now it will be awkward if they commit crimes after riding in his car.

Joshua does wonder why Captain Justice is so rich with nice things (he knows it’s from endorsements) when his parents aren’t rich.

Some stuff seems handled weird, probably for the lower age range to avoid complexity and depth for things that the story just wants to speed past because it’s not the focus, like how they confess their powers to Milton and his reactions. The way it explains some things. But it’s a fun and quick book, thanks largely to the large font. I do like the concept better than the delivery though. Child of super villains definitely still sounds interesting to me, more than I feel after completing the book.

”Did you hear what the weather forecast said this morning?”
“Yeah. They’re predicting that storms will destroy civilization as we know it.”
“And it’s perfect timing too! Mrs. Lange was about to give us a quiz when class got dismissed.”

Except for the occasional threat of apocalyptic doom, it was a pretty uneventful place to live.

[Andre Kalberer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to a fourth or third grader because it is about super heroes and super villains and it is not to long. This book is about a boy named Joshua hes parents are supper villains so he has to hide his secret from everyone because having super villain parents doesn't really make you popular.

[Leigh Collazo · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews at Mrs. ReaderPants.

REVIEW: In a word: typical. Upper-elementary and middle school readers--boys especially--will enjoy this book, but for me, it just does not stand out much. It's got the same predictability of the Disney movie Sky High, minus its humor and charm. The characters are pretty stereotypical: the school bullies, the mysterious new girl, the nerdy best friend, the angst-filled protagonist, the busy parents. It's not anything new or spectacular, nor is it terrible rubbish. Kids will like it though, and that's really worth a lot in my book.

One thing I did really find interesting is the blurry line between Joshua Dread's superheroes and super-villains. I especially love how the media in the story picks a black-or-white way to present the "heroes" on the news, and that's who the common citizens rally behind. But the superheroes and super-villains in Joshua Dread are not so easy to define. I love how Captain Justice is not pure good, and the Dread Duo are not pure evil. Rather, their goodness depends on which side of the argument you fall on. This is a great segue a discussion about how perspective is everything and there are two sides to every story. I love that!

THE BOTTOM LINE: It's not the greatest literature out there, but the boys will like it and it will be easy to book talk.

STATUS IN MY LIBRARY: On order.

READALIKES: Sidekicks (Ferraiolo); H.I.V.E. The Higher Institute of Villainous Education (Walden)

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 3/5
Creativity: 3/5
Characters: 2/5--stereotypes
Engrossing: 2/5
Writing: 3/5
Appeal to teens: 4/5
Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5


CONTENT:

Language: none
Sexuality: none
Violence: mild; superhero violence
Drugs/Alcohol: none

[Geli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow. It's a book probably for twelve years old. I'm a bit older than that (or a lot, but who is counting?). Still, I enjoyed the world a lot! What is wrong with being a supervillain threatening to destroy the world every few months? Or what is wrong to be a superhero and marketing professional? After all, Captain Justice is a good looking, super-powered model/ hero.

Anyway, this book isn't exactly about them. It's about the Joshua, the supervillains son who simply hopes not to get eaten by that new mutant plant of his mother and to survive sixth grade. All this becomes a bit more complicated, when he develops combustion power and the new cute girl in his class his Captain Justice's daugther. Oh, and of course someone is kidnapping the supervillains.

It's a fun novel, that doesn't take itselft too seriously and that gives a rather unique view about the superworld, while showing that villain or hero, bad or good, maybe the differences are smaller than most think.

Recommended? Yes, for everyone of all ages. ^^

EDIT: For reasons, I managed to get the German translation, and please who thought it a good idea to translate Captain Justice with Captain Saubermann? That's like naming him Captain Goodie Two Shoes!

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wooden dialogue, redundant, obvious descriptions of scenes & action, under-developed/superficial characters, flat battle scenes, and lackluster superpowers drag down a story that would otherwise have broad appeal - What is it like for the children of superheroes and supervillains?

Many young people will be drawn to the basic idea of an ordinary kid who is just trying to keep his parents' supervillain identities in the closet to reduce hassles at school, and then suddenly realizes that he, too, has superpowers. Will they be as disappointed as I was? Will they be as annoyed and frustrated? It's hard to say, since I am not a 9- to 12-year-old reader. However, I am certain that a reader in that age range wouldn't mind a better-written book.

One of the problems with the deadpan humor and use of cliches is that a reader starts to think that there is actually something else going on that will come out later - only it doesn't. Red herrings or lack of clarity and expression? I was annoyed throughout the entire book by the sidelining of side-characters, the confusion about the motivation for actions, and especially the "voice" of the main character.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joshua Dread's parents are supervillains. While they're trying to blow up the world, he's trying his best to navigate sixth grade. Things get complicated when Joshua becomes friends with Sophie, the daughter of Captain Justice. Honestly, I can't think of one thing I'd change about this novel. It's consistently funny, inventive, and the pacing never lags, If you're a 12-year-old boy (like me), you'll love it.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

• The first of a series.
• Living among regular people are super villains and super heroes, who fight with each other.
• Joshua is the son of a villain family who likes Sophie, the daughter of hero.
• They are both developing their own super powers.
• Together, all of the family members work to eliminate an even more evil character.
• Lots of fun to read with dry humor.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second OBOB book for the 2017 season. This was well written, with excellent plot development and a pitch perfect pace. Sometimes these superhero/supervillian books seemed to be forced into a frenetic pace, but Lee Bacon pulled it all off in a tasteful way that will please both adults and the 3-5 grade set. Highly enjoyed and recommended.

[Whisper Poet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hutch guys - this author will be coming to visit on March 4! Thank Mr. Tapia for paying for the visit!

I really enjoyed this book. Asking the lines of the Lightning Thief, lots of humor and adventure. So excited to meet the author!

[Luna Pandiella-mcleod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book ever and I'm a 9 yr old girl I finished it in 2 days 1 school day 1 weekend it was so good

[Lazybee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the best light read I've had in a while.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5

I have an ARC of the third book in the series, but I thought I should read at least the first book so that I could get a grip on what the series was about before digging in to that other book. And so I borrowed this book from a local library (I love my library - you should love yours too!).

Joshua Dread is a middle school student, which is awkward enough as it is, but life is a little tougher for Joshua because he has a huge secret that he keeps, even from his best friend, Milton. Joshua's parents are the feared 'Dread Duo' - super-villains who threaten to destroy the world every now and then. Fortunately for Joshua, no one knows the truth about his parents.

While Joshua is on the bus to head home from school, the Dread Duo make a surprise attack, threatening world destruction if they aren't given large sums of money. But their plan is thwarted by Captain Justice.

It's not surprising to them that Captain Justice would ruin their plans, but it IS surprising how quickly he was able to be there.

At school, Joshua finds himself highly attracted to the new girl - Sophie. But if getting the courage to talk to the new girl wasn't bad enough, Joshua is just starting to develop his own super powers - the power of spontaneous combustion.

Sophie discovers his secret (about his powers) and confesses that she, too, has powers, which isn't surprising since her father is Captain Justice. Captain Justice is the Dread Duo's mortal enemy! Can Joshua ever be friends with Sophie?

Joshua is brought to the Vile Fair - a convention for super-villains - but an unusual attack is made, stealing (or killing?) super-villains. Joshua is going to need all the help he can get to stop it - including from his non-powered friend Milton, and the daughter of his sworn enemy.

This book was a lot of fun and author Lee Bacon moves the story along very swiftly. This is perfect fare for the middle school student who wants all the fun and excitement of a Marvel superhero movie, but with characters a little more identifiable (like Harry Potter).

This is definitely recommended for the 10-15 year old adventure seekers!

[Mark Buxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My name is Joshua Dredd, and my mom and dad are supervillains. I knew my body would change once I entered middle school, but I never expected to receive a Gyft, my superpower. My Gyft is spontaneous combustion (I can make things blow up), but I have trouble controlling it. My bigger problem right now is the new girl named Sophie. She has super strength, and her dad is bad news for my family. The Dread Duo, my parents, and other villains have a disturbing dilemma too, as human-like cloud shapes invaded the Vile Fair and disappeared with several master criminals. Nobody knows what the clouds might be or who might have sent them, but they've started popping up all around town. Now, the clouds have gotten my parents, and I need help. I never would have imagined the person who answered my call.

This story was told with a unique point of view, as Joshua loved his unlawful parents. Everyone hated them and cheered for the hero, but Joshua had a different take on what they were doing. Strange as it is to say, it made me have some empathy for characters threatening to destroy the world. The conflict between Joshua's parents and Sophie's dad created a huge complication for the kids. How could they possibly be partners on a school project and become friends when their parents wanted to kill each other? Captain Justice was the world's greatest hero, but he had some issues. It was clear from the beginning that he was overly concerned with his public image and marketing. He posed for pictures, handed out autographs, and promoted his breakfast cereal, beef jerky, and collectible products. This vanity was a major cause of the plot's big problem, as others were ready to exploit it. At first glance, the book appeared to be a silly story with super good guys and bad guys battling it out. However, it became the story of two kids trying to deal with their parents' baggage, and Joshua learning to handle his adolescent changes. Overall, the book was entertaining along with its silly moments, and young middle grade readers with a love for superheroes and comics should enjoy it.

[Jayden Colon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever imagined you having super villain parents? Life would be so hard because your parents are doing evil crimes,but also has to take care of you. The book i read over this summer is called called Joshua Dread by Lee Bacon. It's about a boy name Joshua Dread who has to always keep a low profile so his parents don't have to move to a different town. His best friend in this book is named Milton who doesn't even know Joshua secret. But lately stuff is happening weirdy, for instance pencils start exploding and snet two bullies flying towards the lockers.but turns out Joshua has a SUPERPOWER. But he doesn't know to use it for evil or for good? I recommend this book to people who love to read about friendship or mystery or fantasy books,plus it also is a series of different books so if you liked the first one there is two more books left. But my rating i would give this would be four out of five rating caused i loved the book but the thing i would love to have Lee Bacon added was more pages so it's more of an interesting book.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio because it was on a great audiobooks list, and I have nothing but good things to say about the voice actor. I kinda wish the intro reader had read some of it too, but alas.
Having given this book some space, I think it's better than my initial look. I remember what happened (despite losing track in my car seemingly all the time), and I wouldn't be against reading a sequel. Maybe. That said, it's exactly everything an adult reader would expect. Nothing particularly clever happens, nothing outrageously funny. Joshua himself doesn't add anything and his friends are OK but not excellent characters.
Despite my gripes I would still recommend it to the intended age group if they're interested in superheroes or family friendly adventure.

Two great moments though: When joshua realizes who Sofia is and that he's in a pickle, and the final car ride home. 4.5 stars for the car ride.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of great twists and turns, humor, and character. I found myself laughing at times and was very charmed. And it was a new take having the main character the son of supervillains. I found the characters to be insightful and real. Joshua's struggles were believable and great how he worked them out. The main superhero, Captain Justice, was a bit of a caricature, which I found a little disappointing (but he was funny with his overblown actions and cluelessness) and Joshua's parents, The Dreaded Duo... not stereotype but felt they could have been more believable about their opinions and actions. Something just seemed flat with them. But, this is still a well written, fun book and a good read.

[Jennifer Millar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pre-read for my son

I read this book to see if it would be age appropriate, and reading level appropriate for my 6 year old son. I truly enjoyed the story and I’m sure my son will love it. It is certainly above his reading level (though he reads at a 3rd grade level), but he enjoys listening to audio books, so this is a good candidate for him. I enjoyed how the author treats super heroes and super villains as people. They aren’t all good or all bad. There is room for improvement for everyone, and even the kids in the story aren’t stuck following in their parent’s footsteps. The author also highlights the value of loyalty and friendship through this wonderful adventure story.

[Merinereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Und wieder einmal eine Reihe erwischt, die nicht weiter übersetzt wurde... yeyyy...
Ich persönlich finde das echt schade, denn ich fand diesen ersten Band vielversprechend.
Die Geschichte bietet nicht nur ein sehr cooles Superhelden vs. Superschurken Szenario, sondern ist auch sehr humorvoll und für Teenager spannend erzählt.
Ein paar Twists hab ich schon vorher erahnt, aber ich bin auch schon etwas älter als die Zielgruppe und mit 12-14 wäre dies sicher eins meiner Lieblingsbücher geworden.
Aber auch so gefiel es mir sehr gut, vor allem die Charaktere und den Konflikt zwischen Joshua und Sophie fand ich sehr gelungen. Aber auch das Ende bot noch die ein oder andere coole und spannende Überraschung, die definitiv Lust auf mehr macht.
Nur leider nicht auf deutsch...

[Elsa Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dude, this guy knows how to write a good story!!

From page 1 to 258, I was HOOKED. The characters are well-written and the worldbuilding is phenomenal! Not once was I bored while reading this book!

If you want a unqiue take on superheroes, and amazing themes focused on good vs evil and the fact that no one is 100% good/evil, then I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLYYYY recommend reading this book.

This HAS to be one of my favorite middle grades EVER and I'm so glad I was able to find this and read it when the time came! ❤️

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joshua is used to being the only child of the Dread Duo, a pair of infamous criminals that always go head to head with Captain Justice - but when they and other villains start to disappear, he'll have to use his own new powers and the help of some trustworthy friends to save the day himself! Bacon begins an entertaining adventure that is quick-paced and hilarious. Can Josh get his phenomenally unexpected powers under control in time?!

[Alfeesya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the relationship between Joshua and his parents even though The Dread Duo are villains. What made this story interesting was the part that Joshua bacame friends with Sophia. Everything changed. This was a fun read and enjoyable too, but I think the writing is just too bold and flat plus very simple. I like the story plots and the ideas. The ending was ended quite well and satisfied. I would recommend if you enjoy superhero story. You might want to try this!