Super Max and the Mystery of Thornwood's Revenge

by Susan Vaught

“An excellent addition to middle grade shelves, with a differently-abled main character that readers will root for.” — School Library Journal

“Vaught makes Max the brash, bold star of the book, exchanging stereotypes and sympathy cards for a well-drawn character whose disability is part of who she is but not her complete identity; hopefully Max will roll ahead as the advance guard of a literary cadre.” — BCCB

A Parents’ Choice Recommended Book

It’s going to take more than a knack for electronics and a supercharged wheelchair for twelve-year-old Max to investigate a haunted mansion in Edgar Award–winning author Susan Vaught’s latest middle grade mystery.

Max has always been a whiz with electronics (just take a look at her turbo-charged wheelchair). But when a hacker starts a slanderous Facebook page for her grandpa, Max isn’t sure she has the skills to take him down. The messages grow increasingly sinister, and Max fears that this is more than just a bad joke. Here’s the Max has grown up in the shadow of Thornwood Manor, an abandoned mansion that is rumored to be haunted by its original owner, Hargrove Thornwood. It is said that his ghost may be biding his time until he can exact revenge on the town of Blue Creek. Why? Well, it’s complicated. To call him a jerk would be an understatement. When the hacking escalates, suddenly it looks to Max like this could really be Thornwood’s Revenge. If it is, these messages are just the beginning—and the town could be in danger.

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade, Disability, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2017

About the author

Website: http://susanvaught.com


astrology sign: Libra

favorite book: Harry Potter (all of them) and His Dark Materials
(all of those, too)

favorite song:I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for Cutie

current pet total:12 if you don't count the chickens, peafowl,
turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, or guineas.

names of my schools:
Vanderbilt University (MS, Ph.D.)
University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) (BA)
Germantown High School (Germantown, TN 9th-12th)
Germantown Middle School (Germantown, TN 8th)
Can't Remember, but the mascot was a purple dragon (Sandy Springs/Atlanta Georgia, 7th)
Green Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 6th) Frances Patterson was a very cool teacher there. I write because of her.
Pierce Street Elementary (Tupelo, MS 3rd-5th)
Can't Remember, but it was big (Corinth, MS, 2nd)
Oxford Elementary (Oxford, MS, K-1st)
University of Mississippi (Day Care, Playschool)

Reviews

[EJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

EXCELLENT. the mystery was very good and engaging and Max was a realistic and delightful character to follow along with. I really enjoyed the matter of fact takes on life and her work at managing herself and her anger in a healthy way.

[K.A. Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent. Well crafted middle-grade mystery with light paranormal flavouring and a smart, wheelchair-modding protag. Story threads include a realistically chilling troll hacker causing personal and political chaos, family drama, anti-capitalist and feminist commentary, self-control and anger management, personal autonomy, programmer & electrical engineering kids . . . so a lot going on, but all really well woven into an exciting and engaging story. Fun read, but also a great text for assigned reading and classroom discussion. Highly recommend!

[Mnal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Max is an amazing character and I love the mystery in the book. I must say it is like the book “Coop Knows the Scoop” so if you read that book, you may like this one. I want this book on my bookshelf.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Susan Vaught does a masterful job of weaving a mystery with threads of drama, technology, and a bit of scary included. Max lives with her beloved grandfather Toppy and has battles feelings of anger and abandonment as a result of a car accident that left her wheelchair bound and a mother who who handle the situation. But she has a great support system not only in Toppy, but her best friend Lavender, Lavender's mom and Mayor Chandler. It will take all that and more for Max and company to solve the mystery that starts with a haunted mansion and a curse, moves into fake Facebook posts, spoofed phone calls, fires, stolen money and more. Students in grades 4-7 will enjoy this fast-paced mystery with enough twists and high tech devices to keep all sorts of readers engaged until the very end. (Review of digital ARC from Edelweiss Above the Treeline)

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

ax is a 12 year-old girl living with her grandfather, Toppy, who also happens to be the chief of police in their town of Blue Creek. Her mother, an artist, lives in California, which is just fine with Max - ever since she and her mother were in the car accident that left Max wheelchair-bound at 4 years old, her mother has had trouble fitting Max into her life. She and Toppy lead a pretty happy life together; that is, if she'd stop getting in trouble for tinkering with her wheelchair to give it more power! When a cyber-bully starts a Facebook page and Twitter account slandering her grandfather and the town mayor, Max and Toppy try to blow it off, but things ramp up quickly, and the bully starts causing trouble for local businesses, too, all under the guise of an old town legend, Thornwood's Revenge. Thornwood Manor is an abandoned mansion right next door to Toppy's house, and it carries a lot of history with it, not all of it good. Is the bully really the ghost of Hargrove Thornwood, come to take his revenge, or is it someone with a grudge against an entire town? Max is going to get to the bottom of it.

I'm a Susan Vaught fan, so I was thrilled to read one of her middle grade books (I've only read her YA to date) and I've only read her heavier subject matter. This was good mystery reading all around. She's got a very likable group of characters; I loved Toppy, gruff but lovable, whose disciplinary methods are creative and hilarious. Max is willful, complicated, and strong, like a middle grade heroine should be. She may be in a wheelchair, but she's no victim: she's an engineering whiz who loves to tinker in her eternal search for more power. Her relationship with her mother is complicated, and I liked Vaught's exploration of that relationship. Max is driven by her desire to appear strong, not weak, not dependent; often to the point of frustrating her friends and family. She deals with her anger issues by reciting the names of Marvel and DC superheroes in alphabetical order, adding a nice geek check to the mix. I'd like to see another book or two starring Max and friends, and I think mystery fans will like this new supersleuth.

Susan Vaught is the Edgar Award-winning author of Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy (2016), and Trigger, which received three starred reviews and was an ALA Best Books for Young Adults. She is also a neuropsychologist at a state psychiatric facility, specializing in helping people with severe and persistent mental illness, intellectual disability, and traumatic brain injury. Her author website has more information about her books, essays, and links to her blog.

[Miriam Hardy-Koverman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girl- and wheelchair-positive without dogging boys or being preachy.

There’s the plot: interesting and action-packed.
The characterization: thorough enough to fuel the story and stay plausible; not boringly so. Kids will love the Marvel and DC references; it may fuel interest in lesser-known characters.
The big star is the girl-power and disability-positive message that is both realistic and inspiring without being sappy, preachy, or condescending. So many disABLE-positive characters are the center of stories about being nice to them, or including them. That has its place, but it’s so much more empowering and inspiring to treat a person who happens to be in a wheelchair as just that: a PERSON (who happens to be in a wheelchair).
Max is strong-willed, but not a disability bully either. She makes her way, just like any other 12 year-old. That’s not to say her disability is ignored, rather it is a part of her. Sometimes it is her struggle and sometimes her strength, just like anything else one might see as a disadvantage or advantage (being short, or old, or from another country).

She’s a strong girl with female role-models and her fav superheroes are female, but she doesn’t have to dog boys or men to make herself and other women appear stronger. There’s room for everyone’s strength.

I can’t wait to recommend this book to my students not as a book about a kid in a wheelchair, but as a cool mystery with awesome characters and a breathtaking finale.

[Sophie T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super Max and the Mystery of Thornwood's Revenge is what I would call your typical whodunit. I'm actually proud of myself for being able to figure out the hacker was about half way into the book. I really enjoyed Max's character, and the portrayal of her disability is something you don't see in a lot of books. Unfortunately, the other characters don't seem to have as much depth to them, and that, along with the fact that it was a bit slow in the middle is why I'm giving it four stars.

It certainly isn't a bad book. I'm six books into this year's BoB books and so far all of them have been good. Which is amazing! Yeah some are better then others, but they've all been good. Hopefully the trend will continue. If you are looking for a nice mystery, definitely check out Super Max

[Matt Pavloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super Max has nothing to do with prison! Be warned!

Not that that's a problem; it's probably a bonus, to be honest! Super Max tells the story of a superhero obsessed, tech genius, wheelchair-bound pre-teen girl (Max, if you needed telling) and the mysterious circumstances surrounding her town wherein an urban legend becomes reality. When a hacker blackmails and threatens her grandfather and the mayor of the town, Max and her best friend team up to tackle the problems on their own, with and/or without adult support.

What could have been a cliche story wherein children know best and adults simply get in the way ended up being a poignant look at complicated family dynamics and the tenacity of a girl who refuses to let the term "disabled" be applied to her. The story focuses a lot on Max and her wheelchair, and her love/hate relationship with it. Max is hyper sensitive about being considered a burden, and the author uses Max's relationship with her mother vs/ her grandfather to address these concerns. At times, Thornwood's Revenge takes a backseat to these family moments in which characters can only move forward by addressing the strains in their relationships.

This is a great story for middle-grade readers that addresses a number of less-discussed topics in children's lit in a fun, approachable manner.

[Yapha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Max (short for Maxine, but don't call her that) lives with her grandfather in a small town in Tennessee that is famous for its haunted mansion and the promise of "Thornwood's Revenge." A fake Facebook account is set up in her grandfather's name it is only the tip of the iceberg. Suddenly, more fake accounts, internet hackers, and threats of all kinds ravage the small town and focus on Max and her family. Slowed down only by the battery power of her electric wheelchair (which she has happily tricked out), Max and her best friend Lavender set out to investigate. This mystery is well-paced and just spooky enough -- I couldn't put it down! I hope that Super Max has more adventures. Highly recommended for grades 4 & up.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay, what a super girl Max is! I loved the mystery and dry humor of this book, and even the internet/social media/technology aspect of it as well, and I'm NOT a device kind of person. I loved entering Max's brain and her world and navigating through it with her and discovering and learning right alongside her. My daughter will love reading this one. I read it because she's supposed to read it for one of her reading challenges for school. I have only read one other book by this author, but I liked this one even more than that one.

[Rachel Rooney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 2019-2020 Missouri Truman Readers Award preliminary nominee (grades 6-8).

Max lives in a small town in Tennessee with her grandfather Toppy, who is the police chief. The town's greatest claim to fame is Thornwood, a crumbling mansion, and its owner's curse on the town's residents. When a hacker impersonates Toppy and sets the town on edge, wheelchair-bound Max tries to do some investigating of her own with the help of her best friend.

This was okay. I don't have strong feelings either way.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun to read with my son. Max is a wonderful character. I loved her and her flaws. She is trying to figure out how to tame her temper, become more independent while using a wheelchair, protect her grandfather, and solve this mystery. I love this setting and these other characters. The solution to the mystery and chasing down the bad guy was fun. My only complaint is that some of the kids are a little too old to be so friendly and sometimes even flirty. That is really minor though.
Overall Max is a great character tahr teaches us about differently abled kids.

[Carol Collett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super Max can’t use her legs anymore. But that doesn’t stop her. Not even close. When her grandfather, her town, and her own life are threatened, she goes into turbo drive to save the day.
This story moves into my top ten favorite reads of the year. It may move higher as I digest this story. What a great story about a girl who would be labeled as disabled in our society, but there is nothing disabled about Max.

[Angela Sandoval · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic middle grade whodunit with a mystery based around a legend related to a haunted mansion, to give it a bit of a creepy atmosphere. But what makes this story particularly satisfying is the depth of the main character, Max, who is intelligent and genuine, flaws and all, and the portrayal of her disability in a way that it felt real (as someone who grew up with a sibling with a disability) and not at all overpowering or preachy.

[Janelle French · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my 10-year-old son and we both enjoyed it. The story focuses on a wheelchair-using main character, Max, who is sassy, likeable, clever, and protective of the people she loves. The plot is engaging and suspenseful, and I found myself looking forward to story time to find out what would happen next. I'd love to see this book turned into a movie or miniseries. I highly recommend it for readers in the 9-12 age range.

[Maywoodbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mystery- adventure. But what I think really sets it apart is the protagonist: a feisty, authentic teenage girl who has lost the use of her legs when she was a baby. FINALLY a character who is confined to a wheelchair and NOT an evil villain or helpless. This is a great book to add to a library collection to give all possible young children a chance to find a relateable voice.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max has bad angry problems which got old after awhile. I love that this book focuses on a character in a wheelchair. The wheelchair is apart of who Max is and Susan did an amazing job at writing it. I was expecting a creepy ghost story. This was not at all what I was expecting. Overall it was enjoyable even if some parts were boring.

[Alena Cady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think when all of the clues and mysteries finally come together and you figure out how all of the details fit together and work, it is probably the best thing to find in a book. I feel like this mystery novel is a really good example of how the details just suddenly all come together and fit perfectly in place.

[Gina Schaarschmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect middle grade traditionally structured mystery, with a protagonist who uses a wheelchair. Give this one to kids who like Nancy Drew, Ruby Redford and the 14-Day mysteries. I’m so glad to have a new whodunit to recommend. Can’t wait for more in the series.

[Jane Night · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the character of Max as well as the disability rep.
I thought the setting was spooky and fun.
However, I wasn't hugely into the mystery. Also, I thought this would have been a good first in series but as a stand alone it didn't quite feel complete character arc wise.

[Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s going to take more than a knack for electronics and a supercharged wheelchair for twelve-year-old Max to investigate a haunted mansion and stop a hacker attack against her beloved grandfather.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great mystery!! Main character is in a wheelchair and it adds an unique element to the storyline.

[Brenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the characters, but it was a little slow at times.

[Holli · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Lexi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good story, but predictable

[☁️ bookishdreamss ☁️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay; i liked the portrayal of a disabled character but the writing style felt a bit childish to me. i dunno. still, it was a really good book!

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending was a little rushed, so a loss of points. Beyond that, Max's wheelchair is such an important part of her life and a character in the book on its own. That's a very refreshing thing and a great addition to our diversity collections! Can't wait for the next episode.

[Kim Gontarz]

Max is in a wheelchair after a car accident but that is not going to stop this young lady from solving mysteries and saving her town.

[Ann]

2019-2020 Truman Preliminary Nominee