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In Search of Superpowers: A Fantasy Pin World Adventure
Four preteens receive mysterious enamel pins that grant them superpowers. Together, they must put aside their differences and embark on an epic journey to find the mysterious pinmaker, discover the truth behind the new theme park, and of course, trade pins—all while learning how to navigate their new superhuman skills. This is an all-new illustrated adventure series that's about magic, friendship, queer identity, collecting, and tons of fun!
Four kids. Four pins. Four superpowers. One dark secret.
Angela, Sophie, Travis, and Skylar are four normal middle schoolers. Angela and her dad just moved in with her future stepmom, but the wealthy neighborhood is not what's she used to, and relations with the future stepmom are tough. Sophie lives in the shadow of her twin sister, Becca, and wants to find her own identity. Travis is his track team's star, but he's starting to think that video game coding (and his best friend) might be a LOT more interesting. Skylar is trying to help their family make ends meet . . . but sometimes, they're stretched too thin.
After a mysterious explosion in the night, each of the four kids receives a limited-edition fantasy enamel pin. What's more, it gives them superpowers! As the new friends work together to figure out where the pins came from and untangle their own lives , they discover a secret at the nearby theme park that might not be so fun after all.
In Search of Superpowers is the first in an all-new adventure series, Fantasy Pin World Adventures. It's perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers , The Marvellers , and of course, enamel pin collectors.
Four kids. Four pins. Four superpowers. One dark secret.
Angela, Sophie, Travis, and Skylar are four normal middle schoolers. Angela and her dad just moved in with her future stepmom, but the wealthy neighborhood is not what's she used to, and relations with the future stepmom are tough. Sophie lives in the shadow of her twin sister, Becca, and wants to find her own identity. Travis is his track team's star, but he's starting to think that video game coding (and his best friend) might be a LOT more interesting. Skylar is trying to help their family make ends meet . . . but sometimes, they're stretched too thin.
After a mysterious explosion in the night, each of the four kids receives a limited-edition fantasy enamel pin. What's more, it gives them superpowers! As the new friends work together to figure out where the pins came from and untangle their own lives , they discover a secret at the nearby theme park that might not be so fun after all.
In Search of Superpowers is the first in an all-new adventure series, Fantasy Pin World Adventures. It's perfect for fans of Amari and the Night Brothers , The Marvellers , and of course, enamel pin collectors.
304 pages, Paperback
Published January 30, 2024
10 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Briana Lawrence
20 books71 followersAt the age of nine, like most kids, Briana Lawrence had a dream. She wanted to be the best “WRITTER” in the whole wide world. Her fourth grade class laughed and wondered how one hoped to become a “writer” if they couldn’t even spell the word. Back then her stories were created with crayons and construction paper. As she grew older they progressed into notebooks and colored ink pens of pink, blue, and purple. When she lost her older brother, Glenn Berry, in a car accident, she stopped writing.
Dreams, however, have a funny way of coming back.
Before she realized it she was grabbing her notebook and pens again. She would write stories that ranged from high school romance to her imagination running wild with the likes of Goku, Vegeta, and the other characters of Dragonball Z. This continued throughout college where she would always end up writing about the space exploits of the pilots of Gundam Wing and other works of fan fiction. Soon she realized that she wanted to do more than that. Her head was full of ideas, full of original characters and worlds that she wanted to share with others.
Thus, she stepped into an English Major with some Women’s Studies on the side.
She graduated Iowa State University in 2006 and moved to Minneapolis with her partner. Here, she tried to get into graduate school, but things didn’t pan out the way she wanted. She ended up working retail, her dream becoming buried by Black Fridays and other busy times of year. Once again, however, that dream returned. She went from immersing herself in geeky fan fiction to actually writing about the geeky things she loved for several anime and video game review sites. However, it was her discovery of National Novel Writing Month that made her go back to creating her own characters and plots.
Now, here she is, an author in the writing world.
Dreams, however, have a funny way of coming back.
Before she realized it she was grabbing her notebook and pens again. She would write stories that ranged from high school romance to her imagination running wild with the likes of Goku, Vegeta, and the other characters of Dragonball Z. This continued throughout college where she would always end up writing about the space exploits of the pilots of Gundam Wing and other works of fan fiction. Soon she realized that she wanted to do more than that. Her head was full of ideas, full of original characters and worlds that she wanted to share with others.
Thus, she stepped into an English Major with some Women’s Studies on the side.
She graduated Iowa State University in 2006 and moved to Minneapolis with her partner. Here, she tried to get into graduate school, but things didn’t pan out the way she wanted. She ended up working retail, her dream becoming buried by Black Fridays and other busy times of year. Once again, however, that dream returned. She went from immersing herself in geeky fan fiction to actually writing about the geeky things she loved for several anime and video game review sites. However, it was her discovery of National Novel Writing Month that made her go back to creating her own characters and plots.
Now, here she is, an author in the writing world.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 13, 2024
3.5 for me. Mystery, magic, cliff hangers and more.
February 21, 2024
A wonderful read! I picked it up as soon as I saw Pin adventures and fun powers? Sign me up! I'm eagerly awaiting a sequel! It gave me artsy vibes and magical anime vibes and I'm here for it.
4 POVS are told between 4 pre-teens, Angela, Sophie, Skylar, and Travis in this book. They soon find themselves connected due to their mutual love of enamel pins. When a mysterious explosion rocks Funtastic Plains, the big amusement park, soon after 4 limited edition pins arrive. But these aren't any ordinary pins, they are each imbued with a unique ability connected to each wearer. They must work together to uncover what happened at the explosion and moreover the mystery of the pins, how they got them, and what it all entails.
Angela, a girl who recently moved over with her father to live with hernew step-mom, Latrice. The one thing that brings her joy is getting to draw the fabulous Princess P and Swanson T. Swan and discuss new pin drops with her best friend, Skylar. But things are strained at home with her trying to navigate her way around the new neighborhood and trying to connect with Latrice, who she feel does not like her.
Meet Sophie, whose twin sister, Becca, comes along with her for everything, and I mean everything. Whether it's pin collecting, going to sleepovers, or anything else Becca wants, she tends to find herself giving in to her sisters' and Mama Bears' desires for them to always be together, even giving up her opportunities for potential romances or trying new things like rollerblading. She finds herself desiring more independence and maybe these pins will help her with that and even find a new group of friends to call her own.
Skylar (they/them) is Angela's best friend, who finds themselves struggling with helping their overworked mother and father, who has been recently laid off due to the Funtastic Plains expansion. Furthermore, they work to help their parents pay the bills and also take care of their 2 younger brothers and ailing grandmother. Juggling the local grocery store job, managing in person pin exchanges offline now, and finding time to draw their favorite Princess P isn't easy.
Travis knows sports runs in his family afterall he has a big brother and grandfather who have always done sports. He himself is his middle school's local track superstar. However, he finds himself more drawn to playing his favorite video games and wanting to make his own video games one day. But it's not easy when you feel you need to live up to your family's expectations.
Before diving into any of the characters' themselves, I found myself heavily connected to the parts where they discussed the differences between official and fan made pins, how rare some of them can be, the fabulousness of ita bags, exclusive pin drops, pin trades and more. I've helped friends buy pins at artist alleys before and even have maybe a small handful of them myself so I had fun personally reading this part. Collecting your merch of your favorite characters/series is so so much fun. I also had fun seeing some of the character illustrations throughout the book. Sophie was probably one of my favorite POVS to read (for reasons I won't spoil here). They can be super hard to resist nowadays with how cool and advanced some of them are. Also, who doesn't want fabulous pins that give you superpowers?
4 POVS are told between 4 pre-teens, Angela, Sophie, Skylar, and Travis in this book. They soon find themselves connected due to their mutual love of enamel pins. When a mysterious explosion rocks Funtastic Plains, the big amusement park, soon after 4 limited edition pins arrive. But these aren't any ordinary pins, they are each imbued with a unique ability connected to each wearer. They must work together to uncover what happened at the explosion and moreover the mystery of the pins, how they got them, and what it all entails.
Angela, a girl who recently moved over with her father to live with hernew step-mom, Latrice. The one thing that brings her joy is getting to draw the fabulous Princess P and Swanson T. Swan and discuss new pin drops with her best friend, Skylar. But things are strained at home with her trying to navigate her way around the new neighborhood and trying to connect with Latrice, who she feel does not like her.
Meet Sophie, whose twin sister, Becca, comes along with her for everything, and I mean everything. Whether it's pin collecting, going to sleepovers, or anything else Becca wants, she tends to find herself giving in to her sisters' and Mama Bears' desires for them to always be together, even giving up her opportunities for potential romances or trying new things like rollerblading. She finds herself desiring more independence and maybe these pins will help her with that and even find a new group of friends to call her own.
Skylar (they/them) is Angela's best friend, who finds themselves struggling with helping their overworked mother and father, who has been recently laid off due to the Funtastic Plains expansion. Furthermore, they work to help their parents pay the bills and also take care of their 2 younger brothers and ailing grandmother. Juggling the local grocery store job, managing in person pin exchanges offline now, and finding time to draw their favorite Princess P isn't easy.
Travis knows sports runs in his family afterall he has a big brother and grandfather who have always done sports. He himself is his middle school's local track superstar. However, he finds himself more drawn to playing his favorite video games and wanting to make his own video games one day. But it's not easy when you feel you need to live up to your family's expectations.
Before diving into any of the characters' themselves, I found myself heavily connected to the parts where they discussed the differences between official and fan made pins, how rare some of them can be, the fabulousness of ita bags, exclusive pin drops, pin trades and more. I've helped friends buy pins at artist alleys before and even have maybe a small handful of them myself so I had fun personally reading this part. Collecting your merch of your favorite characters/series is so so much fun. I also had fun seeing some of the character illustrations throughout the book. Sophie was probably one of my favorite POVS to read (for reasons I won't spoil here). They can be super hard to resist nowadays with how cool and advanced some of them are. Also, who doesn't want fabulous pins that give you superpowers?
November 27, 2023
I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW!!!
This was so good! Super inclusive, wholesome, exciting, fun and I just flew through it. But that cliffhanger, I cannot wait to read the sequel!
I immediately fell in love with the cover. I wasn’t so sure about the story starting with an “evil” stepmother, that felt so outdated but don’t let that stop you from reading more because this book does something so good and unexpected with that further into the story!!
So Angela is the girl with the new stepmother. They moved into her house. Her dad met her at Funtastic Plains where they both work. This amusement park and some of its characters, play a huge role in this book. Angela loves those characters, drawing and creating comics and collecting pins. Angela hasn’t made any friends at her new school yet and is lonely.
This book has 4 POVs and it never gets confusing.
The second POV is Sophie. She has a twin sister Becca, who wants to do everything together. But Sophie wants to do some things separately and maybe even have her own friends but she’s afraid to bring it up.
The third POV is Angela’s best friend from her old neighborhood, Skylar (they/them). Skylar loves drawing. Their dad lost his job because of an expansion of Funtastic Plains. They have a busy and tired mom, two crazy little brothers and their ailing grandmother lives with them too. They help where they can but they do mess some things up.
POV 4 is Travis. He lives with his grandpa and runs track but is that really what he wants to do? What he truly loves is playing his favorite game with his best friend Rhyan.
An explosion happens and soon after they all obtain a mysterious free pin that gives them certain powers. The pins bring them together and they become good friends. And their new powers help them get control over their lives. But where did these pins come from? When they try to find that out, they stumble upon a much bigger mystery!!
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.
This was so good! Super inclusive, wholesome, exciting, fun and I just flew through it. But that cliffhanger, I cannot wait to read the sequel!
I immediately fell in love with the cover. I wasn’t so sure about the story starting with an “evil” stepmother, that felt so outdated but don’t let that stop you from reading more because this book does something so good and unexpected with that further into the story!!
So Angela is the girl with the new stepmother. They moved into her house. Her dad met her at Funtastic Plains where they both work. This amusement park and some of its characters, play a huge role in this book. Angela loves those characters, drawing and creating comics and collecting pins. Angela hasn’t made any friends at her new school yet and is lonely.
This book has 4 POVs and it never gets confusing.
The second POV is Sophie. She has a twin sister Becca, who wants to do everything together. But Sophie wants to do some things separately and maybe even have her own friends but she’s afraid to bring it up.
The third POV is Angela’s best friend from her old neighborhood, Skylar (they/them). Skylar loves drawing. Their dad lost his job because of an expansion of Funtastic Plains. They have a busy and tired mom, two crazy little brothers and their ailing grandmother lives with them too. They help where they can but they do mess some things up.
POV 4 is Travis. He lives with his grandpa and runs track but is that really what he wants to do? What he truly loves is playing his favorite game with his best friend Rhyan.
An explosion happens and soon after they all obtain a mysterious free pin that gives them certain powers. The pins bring them together and they become good friends. And their new powers help them get control over their lives. But where did these pins come from? When they try to find that out, they stumble upon a much bigger mystery!!
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.
March 20, 2024
A social engineering fantasy, where chapter one has a minor character with mangled pronouns, chapter two has two girls living with a pair of mothers – and one of the lasses has a serious girl crush, and chapter three has two lads, one lusting for the other. What connects them all is a gaming and fantasy lifestyle, mostly inspired by the theme park that is their town's major employer. When some bonkers geographical deus ex machina of a beginning shakes the place's power supply and online gadgets, the four independently find themselves able to order what is just defined as a very rare pin badge – and to receive it within hours, on a Sunday morning. But this won't unlock the richest weapon in the game, or show affinity to a princess and her swan, as one franchise has it – these are for something much more serious...
All told there isn't too much wrong with this, apart from the real heavy-handed approach of the author. The first pages were proof of this being the style, when it was definitely said-without-being-said our lead for that chapter was a poc. It clearly has no intentions of representing pretty much any country's demographic, but may actually coincide with the skewed interest for such pins – whose legitimacy or otherwise is defined to great length early on. No, for every off-putting-to-adult-readers aspect of this, such as nested sms conversations, there is the frisson gained for the right reader, such as the 'in' to the whole theme park/franchise/game world. This has the nerd appeal – but also the huge delay in the guys actually working out what the pins might be doing. From me it obviously gets a star mark down as is the default with pronoun-mangling, and its blatant build to further titles in the series is also a downer, but the right reader will get something fairly strong from these pages. Two and a half stars.
All told there isn't too much wrong with this, apart from the real heavy-handed approach of the author. The first pages were proof of this being the style, when it was definitely said-without-being-said our lead for that chapter was a poc. It clearly has no intentions of representing pretty much any country's demographic, but may actually coincide with the skewed interest for such pins – whose legitimacy or otherwise is defined to great length early on. No, for every off-putting-to-adult-readers aspect of this, such as nested sms conversations, there is the frisson gained for the right reader, such as the 'in' to the whole theme park/franchise/game world. This has the nerd appeal – but also the huge delay in the guys actually working out what the pins might be doing. From me it obviously gets a star mark down as is the default with pronoun-mangling, and its blatant build to further titles in the series is also a downer, but the right reader will get something fairly strong from these pages. Two and a half stars.
February 29, 2024
Themes / Representation:
- LGBTQIA+ Characters
- Non Binary MC
- BIPOC Main Characters
- Enamel Pins
- Superpowers
- Theme Park
- Friendship
- Family
Four young teens receive mysterious enamel pins that give them superpowers. They seem to be connected to the local theme park, and to each other - can they solve the mystery and uncover the secrets of the park?
As a lover, collector and designer of enamel pins, of course I had to pick this up! I thought the story was good and definitely more directed towards a middle grade audience. I adored the illustrations throughout and loved seeing from each characters POV.
The representation was great to see and I’m excited to recommend this to readers looking for more diversity in middle grade.
The story itself was okay. I expected to fly through it a bit quicker but this could be because I’m not in the target age range. This story seems to be inspired by Disney (or another large children’s fantasy company) and there is discussion about Official and “Fantasy” aka Fan Made pins. As a collector of both, this was interesting to read but I can’t imagine non-collectors would find it very interesting.
I think this could be a significant downfall for this book in general. It relies on the audience to be somewhat apart of / aware of the pin scene to keep them engaged. However because of this, I think collectors might also seek out this story to read.
The story ended on a big cliffhanger, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the following books. I’m not sure if I’ll continue in the series but I definitely encourage anyone who likes the sound of this story to give it a go.
Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for providing me an e copy of the book to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
- LGBTQIA+ Characters
- Non Binary MC
- BIPOC Main Characters
- Enamel Pins
- Superpowers
- Theme Park
- Friendship
- Family
Four young teens receive mysterious enamel pins that give them superpowers. They seem to be connected to the local theme park, and to each other - can they solve the mystery and uncover the secrets of the park?
As a lover, collector and designer of enamel pins, of course I had to pick this up! I thought the story was good and definitely more directed towards a middle grade audience. I adored the illustrations throughout and loved seeing from each characters POV.
The representation was great to see and I’m excited to recommend this to readers looking for more diversity in middle grade.
The story itself was okay. I expected to fly through it a bit quicker but this could be because I’m not in the target age range. This story seems to be inspired by Disney (or another large children’s fantasy company) and there is discussion about Official and “Fantasy” aka Fan Made pins. As a collector of both, this was interesting to read but I can’t imagine non-collectors would find it very interesting.
I think this could be a significant downfall for this book in general. It relies on the audience to be somewhat apart of / aware of the pin scene to keep them engaged. However because of this, I think collectors might also seek out this story to read.
The story ended on a big cliffhanger, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the following books. I’m not sure if I’ll continue in the series but I definitely encourage anyone who likes the sound of this story to give it a go.
Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for providing me an e copy of the book to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
February 8, 2024
LGBTQ+ representation. The character is struggling with identity. For fans of Amari and the Night Brothers, The Marvellers, and enamel pin collectors.
I will focus on the pop culture side of the story. I love that the author explains to us the difference between fantasy pins and official ones and the copyright issues of indie artists doing fan art for the love and support of their favorite game, character, or show.
It's very cool to see a novel focused on things I love from an Artist Alley. I know the author is a Comicon Artist Alley participant as well and I miss my time attending these, collecting art, plushies, pins, and stickers before the pandemic.
I love magic girls and I love how the author incorporated this into this novel.
It was a slow read for me I would have preferred to see this in another format, I think as a graphic novel it would be easier to read and to see what enamel pins or Ita Bags can be and showcase all the magic and cuteness of that world that brings us joy in an environment (comic conventions and gamers) that allows individual freedom without criticism.
Thank you for the free copy publisher my review is voluntary
I will focus on the pop culture side of the story. I love that the author explains to us the difference between fantasy pins and official ones and the copyright issues of indie artists doing fan art for the love and support of their favorite game, character, or show.
It's very cool to see a novel focused on things I love from an Artist Alley. I know the author is a Comicon Artist Alley participant as well and I miss my time attending these, collecting art, plushies, pins, and stickers before the pandemic.
I love magic girls and I love how the author incorporated this into this novel.
It was a slow read for me I would have preferred to see this in another format, I think as a graphic novel it would be easier to read and to see what enamel pins or Ita Bags can be and showcase all the magic and cuteness of that world that brings us joy in an environment (comic conventions and gamers) that allows individual freedom without criticism.
Thank you for the free copy publisher my review is voluntary
September 13, 2023
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
This had some interesting subplots, like Angela dealing with her new stepmother or twins Sophie and Becca wanting to create their own identities, but the underlying story of collecting fantasy pins will probably not resonate with my students, although getting powers from them is certainly very cool. I'd never heard of fantasy pins, but they seem to be related to Disney; this has an off brand theme park, "Funtastic Plains". Going in to this book, I thought it would be a graphic novel, but it wasn't. For the right reader, this would be great.
This had some interesting subplots, like Angela dealing with her new stepmother or twins Sophie and Becca wanting to create their own identities, but the underlying story of collecting fantasy pins will probably not resonate with my students, although getting powers from them is certainly very cool. I'd never heard of fantasy pins, but they seem to be related to Disney; this has an off brand theme park, "Funtastic Plains". Going in to this book, I thought it would be a graphic novel, but it wasn't. For the right reader, this would be great.
March 17, 2025
Told from four POVs. Readers meet four middle school children and learn about their lives. Each is somehow connected to pin trading and each receives a mysterious free pin through an online ad. They discover the pins give them special powers and they find a way to work together using these super powers to learn more about a mysterious corporation taking over the local amusement park. I appreciate how each develops as a character as the story progresses. Each faces challenges in their own lives and these are lightened by sharing with the others.
A lighter read for upper elementary level.
A lighter read for upper elementary level.
March 22, 2024
Thank you @andrewsmcmeel for this gifted copy. My 👧🏻 had fun reading it!
👧🏻 reviews: This is an easy read and great flow. Angela, Sophie, Travis and Skylar are seriously a force to be reckoned with. They’re funny and they’re simply perfect for each other despite anything. Their crazy ideas helped this book move forward with plenty of laughters and dramas. Also, I love the cover of the book, something about the dark blue color and fantasy. A must read for 5th to 6th graders.
👧🏻 reviews: This is an easy read and great flow. Angela, Sophie, Travis and Skylar are seriously a force to be reckoned with. They’re funny and they’re simply perfect for each other despite anything. Their crazy ideas helped this book move forward with plenty of laughters and dramas. Also, I love the cover of the book, something about the dark blue color and fantasy. A must read for 5th to 6th graders.
February 14, 2024
The diversity in this story was solid. The preteen/early teen shenanigans could have been sillier but at least the shy kids get their rep!
It ended on a "to be continued" which feels like a smart move and also drives me nuts 😂 definitely worth passing on to a younger person!
It ended on a "to be continued" which feels like a smart move and also drives me nuts 😂 definitely worth passing on to a younger person!
April 6, 2024
Really fun book with well-defined characters and a solid hook that keeps things rolling smoothly from beginning to end. Briana has a keen sense when it comes to depicting burgeoning friendships and a youthful sense of longing.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews