Incredibles 2: A Real Stretch: An Elastigirl Prequel Story

by Walt Disney Company

Set before the events of The Incredibles, this original prequel story is focused on Elastigirl's crime-stopping adventures during the golden age of supers.

Genres: Middle Grade, Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2018

About the author

Note: The decision was made to consolidate all Disney publications under the name Walt Disney Company. This profile is for Walt Disney, the characters he created, and the company he founded. Any questions, please ask in the Librarian's Group.

Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.

Disney is particularly noted for being a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most famous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, a character for which Disney himself was the original voice. He has been awarded four honorary Academy Awards and has won twenty-two competitive Academy Awards out of fifty-nine nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual. He also won seven Emmy Awards. He is the namesake for Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the United States, as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong.

Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California, on December 15, 1966. The following year, construction began on Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. His brother Roy Disney inaugurated the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971.

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) (commonly referred to as Disney) is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, the company was reincorporated as Walt Disney Productions in 1929. Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 11 theme parks around the world. On January 23, 2006, it was announced that Disney would purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. The deal was finalized on May 5. On December 31, 2009, Disney Company acquired the Marvel Entertainment, Inc. for $4.24 billion. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

--from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This. Was. ADORABLE. OMG. 😍

I didn't know I shipped Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible but after this I certainly do. Their first meet at the grocery store was stupid cliched cute but it got me in the feels. Then the realization at the end of their secret identities was great; I almost thought it wasn't coming!

I had a bad feeling about Blazestone, as I'm sure you're meant to as you go. 😂

This was an incredibly simple book in its writing style, though it's tagged as middle grade it feels even younger than that from its wording and overall messages. I read it in just over 24 hours. It was cute, easy to read, and has HYPED ME UP for Incredibles 2! 💪🏻

I took one star off because there was NO MENTION of Edna Mode ANYWHERE and I was disappointed. But this does make me very interested in more of the Supers history, like how did they become Super? Is it genetic? Why are they all in Municiberg? Where did Edna come from? I have many questions! And I think Disney could do well with giving us more backstory on these characters and this world. Imma cross my fingers. ✌🏻️

A quick and easy read, fun to do on your own or with your kids/family if you're a fan. 😁

[Hayden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Am I a 24 year old woman who read this just because one can never have too much Incredibles in one's life?

Why, yes I am.

To be honest, I am a little disappointed in it-even though it is for kids, I didn't find the plot particularly compelling. However, I did like seeing Helen and Bob's first meeting! Honestly, if it had been more about them-and Frozone-rather than the superhero caper, I probably would have liked it better. Anyway, had there been some prequel books like this back when the first movie came out, I probably would have been obsessed.

[Meredith Spidel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter LOVES this book. We saw the movie last week, and then this book arrived from Disney in exchange for an honest review, so perfect timing :) As a burgeoning reader, anything that captivates her is a win in my book, and I think it's a neat idea to explore more of the characters' backstories. Looking forward to sharing with some of our fellow Incredibles fans/friends when she's done!

[Eric Troup · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit, one of the great joys of reading this book was the mere fact that it was an incredibles story in novel form, not just a novelization of a film. I enjoyed the story. Some of the characterizations seemed a bit flat to me, but overall, the writing rang true. I hope we get more of these. Maybe even an animated series, to boot! Hey. A guy can dream.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

so basically elastigirl is mother

[Silverscarf · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the first Incredibles movie and am mostly excited for the sequel. I had seen this book around on Amazon and was kind of interested in it, though I wasn't exactly at the point where I wanted to buy it. But I had had to wait for someone in a store and I happened to be in the book section, this was something I at least had mild interest in so I decided to pick it up to read the first few pages. And the book came home with me. (Oh like that doesn't happen to you!)

I was expecting to like this book, I didn't quite think I would love it or anything, but I at least wanted to enjoy it. But this was not a good read. There were a lot of issues I had with it, so here we go.

One. There's no real plot in this book, nothing really happens in it. We follow Elastigirl through her everyday life, and that's about it. There's not really a specific bad guy for her to take down, there's no active sign that anything particularly evil is happening in the city, and it's all incredibly boring. If you want a book to help your kids fall asleep at bedtime, this should do it.
Two. This book lacks everything good about the Incredibles. The movie had action, humor, style, a solid story, and an awesome bad guy. But none of that is in this book, and it was missed to say the least. If it didn't say Incredibles on the cover you probably wouldn't even know this was supposed to be a tie-in to it.
Three. The characters are so off in this book, Elastigirl was amazing in the movie, strong, confident, capable and ready for anything. Here she doesn't really do much, she does what she's told and doesn't have any of the qualities that made me love her in the movie. And even Mr. Incredible and Frozone are kind of weak compared to their movie versions.
Four. Did I mention how boring this book is? Yes? Well here its worth saying again, because God this book was dull. I was at about page 146 (the book is not that long at 239 pages) when it hit me that nothing of any importance had actually happened yet. And that did not instill me with confidence for the rest of the book.

There were a few good things, the few short parts where Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible met each other as Helen and Bob, I liked those and when they realize who they are as Supers at the end. Also there were some funny parts that I really enjoyed, if only there had been more of them.

I know this book is aimed at younger kids, and I didn't expect it to be the most amazing book I've read this year or anything, but I at least expected it to be halfway decent. I don't think kids are going to like this novel any more than I did, I know there are a lot of good and even great middle grade books out there, and I really wanted this to be one of them. But this was one of the worst tie-ins I've ever read, middle grade or otherwise, I don't recommended it.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jablonski, Carla A Real Stretch: An Elastigirl Prequel Story, 240 pages. Disney Press, 2018. $11. Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

Elastigirl likes to work on her own as a Super in Municiberg. She doesn’t need much praise, so when the Super Agency holds a special awards ceremony for all the Supers, Elastigirl is a bit concerned and annoyed. Her concern is that during the Supers’ ceremony, a villain will pick that opportune time to wreck havoc. Her annoyance is all the cocky Supers who think they deserve the awards. As a side story, Elastigirl is also getting to know Mr. Incredible better.

I love the Disney movie The Incredibles, so I was excited to read this prequel. I think I would rather watch a movie about Elastigirl than read a novel because as the action is being described it’s not as entertaining as watching it. Also, the book portrayed Elastigirl as kind of boring and annoyed with everyone which isn’t how I picture her at all. Overall, I think the reading level for this book is upper elementary, but nobody is going to read a book this long when they could just watch the upcoming movie and enjoy it more. Great cover though-which makes me excited for Incredibles 2.

EL – OPTIONAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave A REAL STRETCH: AN ELASTIGIRL PREQEL NOVEL five stars for the sheer fun I had reading this book. Elastigirl is one of my favorite Disney Pixar characters and I think it's "incredible" that we got her back story. The story doesn't take us back to Elastigirl as a kid, although we do learn she was recruited to the National Supers Agency (NSA) as a teen by none other than Mr. Dickers, who has a role in this story as well. This prequel begins with Elastigirl already established as a super. She's respected by the NSA, the other supers, and by the citizens. She works alone, as she prefers, but is friends with other supers including the charming Frozone.

A REAL STRETCH does a solid job of grounding the reader in this world inhabited and protected by supers. Elastigirl/Helen is a intelligent, compassionate, and very good at her job. She's strong and loyal and has a solid moral compass. I thoroughly enjoyed her early impressions of Mr. Incredible and their first meetings when in their secret identities -- I love that they didn't recognize each other and how much fun they had together.

Solid messages about teamwork, being humble yet remaining proud of your abilities, and how good choices can triumph over bad ones. And it's got plenty of action sequences and moments where I laughed. A fun read!

[Blake Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed A Real Stretch. I loved the romance aspect between Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. I liked how Frozone was included as well as other less known super heroes (like Gazerbeam). My only problem (other than there being no Edna) was that some aspects didn’t make sense when comparing it to the movie. In the book, Mr. I clearly saw Elastigirl on her bike, but he didn’t know she had one in the movie. I think it could have fit better with the movie, but overall it was a quick, enjoyable read.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen Highwater, AKA Elastigirl, is proud to use her stretching powers to protect the citizens of Municiberg. She's really good at it, too. She does her hero work out of a sense of duty, not for praise and glory like some cocky superheroes (cough *Mr. Incredible* cough), so she thinks the upcoming Supers Appreciation Day is a waste of time. But when a dangerous radioactive substance goes missing, Supers Appreciation Day threatens to turn into a catastrophe. A cute prequel set in the heyday of the Incredibles universe. Definitely only for rabid fans.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is for elementary school age kids but i love the Incredibles so much I had to read it. While the plot was weak and Elastigirl seemed pretty out of character at times, there was something about being immersed in this world once again that felt like coming home. There was such a level of nostalgia reading this. If you want ro reimmerse yourself in the world of The Incredibles and dont mind slightly dosgy characterisation and plot issues, you'll enjoy this book.

[Annie Hasita · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very nice read, and I loved seeing how Helen and Bob had met before falling in love.
But I would have liked to learn more about Helen and how she got to be elestigirl which is unfortunately not the case.
But it was overall a very good and short read.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purposely took a looooong time reading this because I didn't want it to end... That being said, however, I didn't love this. It was just okay. I enjoyed reading about Elastigirl's adventures before the events of the first movie, but I wish that this had been longer, for an older audience (even YA would've been fine instead of for a middle grade audience), and also focused on Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl's romantic relationship. Yes, that would've made my Bob/Helen shipper heart super happy. Now if someone can write another prequel book about these supers from the time they find out they've been made illegal to when Violet is born, that would be great.
Listen, I can totally write that (and if I think about it too long, I will!), but I want someone else to do it. Lol.

[Iván Valeriano · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 / 5

Es increíble cómo los personajes guardan su esencia con respecto a las películas. La historia es excelente, el desarrollo de la trama central fue muy bueno. Ojalá hubiera más libros.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book for me was a break from heavier books, but I feel like, for the book, there should either be another, or they just could have written more.

[Camila · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡LO AMÉ!

[Erin Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book for kids with a lot of fun super hero action and a lot of good lessons mixed in. Almost any young fan of the Incredible will enjoy this one.

[Jasmine Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute kids book and a fun prequel for fans of the Incredibles.

[Catalina Osorio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia genia, entretenia de leer, rápida y con un mensaje positivo para niñes.
Además genial para fans de la saga y adultos que quieren entretención.

Lo único malo es el cliché villano

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent YA prequel to the Incredibles movie by Disney. Good fleshing out of the various characters while they are doing their good deeds around the city.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was cutie and fun I have an obsession w incredibles tho so I’m pretty biased. It was very kid-ish but basically fanfiction lol.

[J. Andrew Brantley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Incredibles is hands down my favorite Pixar movie and thoroughly enjoyed the sequel. I enjoy original superhero stories and was pleasantly surprised when this novel showed up on my recommendations.

I was always interested in the lives of Supers before the Super Relocation Act came into effect. One of the major issues I had with the novel was that there was no plot to speak of. The novel acted more as vignettes in the life of Elastigirl and her alter ego, Helen Highwater. Helen's last name was a great pun (i.e. "Come Hell or high water..."), however, Brad Bird has stated that her maiden name is Helen Truax...

Also, the time period felt off in the novel. While it was never explicitly stated in the novel, both Helen and Bob are 40 when the original film takes place and the setting is 1962. Since they had been married for 15 years, that would mean they tied the knot in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. I was under the impression that the novel was set in maybe, 1945. Helen does listen to big band music on the radio (probably a la Glenn Miller)...but then Elastigirl intervenes and stops a truck of electronics from being sold on the black market; if it's the 1940s what type of electronics are trying to be sold, blenders and toasters? The author needed to perform better research to get the feel of the late 1940s.

What I love about both films was the pacing, the humor, and the great antagonist. This novel lacks all of that; Elastigirl needed a villain to go up against that weren't just petty criminals. One of the more interesting and slightly frustrating aspects of the novel was that superheroes were salaried employees of the National Supers Agency. And it seemed that with all the free time Helen had to go to the grocery store in the middle of the day that she did not have a normal job. And it also seemed that Supers did not socialize with regular humans. Both of these things seemed odd to me. What makes superhero stories so dynamic and interesting is the duality of the hero. I had always imagined what type of jobs Elastigirl, Frozone, and Mr. Incredible had in their heydays. Being hired by the NSA does leave more free time to save the world...but won't people wonder why you are never at work? And always being around other Supers (especially those who you do not know their secret identities is just weird. That is such a finite amount of people in the city to have in your life.

I did enjoy Bob and Helen realizing who they were...but that was way at the end of the book! I know this was written with middle-grade readers in mind, but this book was certainly no one's kryptonite.



I know this book is aimed at younger kids, and I didn't expect it to be the most amazing book I've read this year or anything, but I at least expected it to be halfway decent. I don't think kids are going to like this novel any more than I did, I know there are a lot of good and even great middle grade books out there, and I really wanted this to be one of them. But this was one of the worst tie-ins I've ever read, middle grade or otherwise, I don't recommended it.

[Alexander Sison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it well enough. It was a nice stroll down Municiberg back when heroes weren't outlawed. There were some easter eggs like the one referring to the animated short Mr. Incredible and Pals which made me chuckle. Overall though, Elastigirl was rather flat and the book surprisingly left out any concrete detail about Elastigirl's backstory or family. Maybe that's best, so as not to contradict the later films, but it kind of left the book a bit cold. I thought Mr. Incredible and Lucius were presented with way more "presence" than Elastigirl was.

The climax imo, needed just a little more to make it nerve-wracking enough to make the entire experience memorable.

So in retrospect, this novel is nothing like the last prequel novel made out of Brad Bird's last Disney film, which was Before Tomorrowland. But it's obviously not targetting the same target market, so I guess this is okay for the 10-12 year old readers.

[Sarria Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This novel took me back to being 9 years old and sitting in front of my old family tv, watching The Incredibles on repeat, driving my parents and siblings mad!

While the writing is clearly created with the younger children in mind, 7-8+, the storyline is as sweet as the original film. Our Elastigirl sounds like herself, the voice of the character flowing through your mind as you read.

With a simplistic twist you do see coming, and a gorgeous meeting between Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, A Real Stretch isn't anything as incredible as the supers it reacquaints us with.
But at the same time there isn't anything wrong with it.
It is an uncomplicated story but just having these characters back was a joy.

[Valeria Narvaez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Que libro para mas cute 🥰 he recordado lo que era ver Los Increíbles de pequeña y me han dado unas ganas tremendas de volver a ver la Peli.
Me ha gustado muchísimo Downburst, puedo decir que incluso es de mis personaje fav junto con Mr. I y E-girl 💖 y saber que muere mas adelante (en la peli Los Increibles lo dicen) me apena demasiado y me remueve el corazoncito 💔😭
Conocer una parte dela historia de Helen y Bob es sin duda lo mejor del libro! Y le hubiera puesto mas estrellas si hubieran puesto mas información sobre como se conocieron y todas esas cositas pero entiendo que es un libro infantil. 🦸‍♀️🦸🏻🦸🏼‍♂️

[Miriam Belen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terminado...
Para los que nos gustan los libros de Disney 😅... ; Las apariencias engañan, parece corto pero para nada, lo considero un libro normal, con respecto a la historia me gustó mucho puesto que en las películas no te cuentan esta parte de cómo se conoce Elastigirl con Mr. Increíble, lo encontré muy entretenido y lo asombroso además fue el precio 100% recomendado si te gusta este tipo de lectura.

PD. No es sólo romance, de hecho tiene más acción que otra cosa...

[Ta'Neisha Kemp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute prequel to the Incredibles story we all know and love. However, it was truly slow to start moving toward the plot. The action scenes sprinkled throughout were enjoyable. My children looked forward to those fight scenes but didn't like most of the story. Towards the end, they paid more attention because the plot was finally clear. This didn't work great as a read-aloud but I do think a child might do well with this on their own.

[Gable Roth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun little book that I listened to with my family. It had action and adventure and a nice little love story. It was a little predictable. My ten year old even figured out the baddie. But that is OK. It was still fun.

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. There isn’t a lot of character development. Elastigirl was a pretty flat character but it was fun to be back in the Incredibles world.

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book!