Will

by Adam Rex

Book description to come.

Genres: Short Stories

Kindle Edition

First published September 21, 2010

About the author

Adam Rex grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, the middle of three children. He was neither the smart one (older brother) or the cute one (younger sister), but he was the one who could draw. He took a lot of art classes as a kid, trying to learn to draw better, and started painting when he was 11. And later in life he was drawn down to Tucson in order to hone his skills, get a BFA from the University of Arizona, and meet his physicist wife Marie (who is both the smart and cute one).

Adam is nearsighted, bad at all sports, learning to play the theremin, and usually in need of a shave. He can carry a tune, if you don't mind the tune getting dropped and stepped on occasionally. He never remembers anyone's name until he's heard it at least three times. He likes animals, spacemen, Mexican food, Ethiopian food, monsters, puppets, comic books, 19th century art, skeletons, bugs, and robots.

Garlic and crosses are useless against Adam. Sunlight has been shown to be at least moderately effective. A silver bullet does the trick. Pretty much any bullet, really.

Reviews

[Connor Waterman · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Will" by Adam Rex is about a boy named Will and he has no superpowers but everyone else has a superpower in his school. A Villian named super jerk comes to the Wills school and No one superpowers work. Super jerk blasts through the classroom wall and everyone hides under there desk. He asks for Cheetah Girl, who was the most popular superhero in the world. Will tells Superjerk he has a mind-reading power and asks the Villian his weaknesses and he replies with I don't have any, I didn't care to program any. Will uses his smarts and gives him a weakness of his own brain. Will tried to convince super jerk into thinking he had a weakness which was his arm, which was loaded with rockets, missiles, and guns. Cheetah Girl came in last minute and arrested Superjerk while getting all the fame for capturing him when Will really did the work.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Will's thirteenth birthday, and he still doesn't have any special powers. His classmates are leaving school one by one for places like wizarding school and fairy academies, but Will and three other classmates remain behind with their increasingly exasperated teacher. She tries to get the day started with an assignment, but not longer after the morning announcements, a supervillain knocks down the wall to the classroom and takes everyone hostage. Though he never realizes it, Will's quick thinking and powers of deduction make him the true hero of the day.

This is one of the best children's short stories I have ever read. It has everything kids like - an underdog protagonist, superheroes, references to both Harry Potter and Magic Tree House, jokes about teachers, unexpected plot twists and a sense of humor. I first discovered it at the end of last school year, when I was searching for something to read on a fifth grade class visit. I read it again to another fifth grade class just recently, and both groups deemed the story "awesome" and broke out into applause at the end. Adam Rex's tongue-in-cheek tone talks to kids on their level, and the fact that almost the entire story is propelled by the actions of kids keeps them interested even as the story gets a bit lengthy. The surprises of the story are spread out throughout the text, so there is always an opportunity to renew the kids' interest every few pages. It's also helpful to read the story with no commentary at all at the beginning. It works best if they just settle in with no idea what's coming.

My favorite character, aside from Will, is the supervillain whose cartoonishly evil personality is just right for kids raised on comic books and Cartoon Network. Not only is it fun to watch the kids fight him off, it's just as fun to laugh at his weakness and foolishness, and his dialogue is truly brilliant, as is most of the dialogue throughout the story.

This short story is a good one for fans of Adam Rex, of course, as well as of authors like Tom Angleberger, Louis Sachar, and Gordon Korman, and for kids who love graphic novels and superhero comics. Though it's a guaranteed hit with boys, it also resonates with girls who tend to gasp loudly at the most exciting moments and who laugh at some of the jokes the boys miss while they're wrapped up in the action.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another short story on audio that we listened to with my nephews recently. This story is about 30 minutes long and explores the notion of heroes. All the kids that Will knows have superpowers, but he seems to be just a normal boy. When a super villain attacks their school, can Will save the day?

In these days where most of the kid books have stories where problems are solved using magic, or super powers, or some other fantastical device, I loved the notion of a story where a kid uses his noggin. My nephews and I had an interesting discussion of what makes a hero.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will is funny book by Adam Rex. Will is a boy that one day went to school and Lily and Barry where not there. Will asked the teacher Mrs. Chadwick, "Where are Lily and Barry?" Mrs. Chadwick said that Barry Found out that he was a wizard. And how should I know where Lily is! Then a big evil villain came! Can Will save them? In will the main characters are Will, Aidan, Lily, Nathan and Julie. People who like humor should read this book.

[Mr. Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

will is a super villan

[Nickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone is a superhero in Will's class, but him. Until circumstances one day forces him to discover powers he never knew he had.

[Asher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best work, but still enjoyable...