School for Sidekicks by Kelly McCullough

Evan Quick has always wanted to become a superhero in order to join Mask and fight bad guys along side his hero, Captain Commanding. It seems impossible, since he's a scrawny, unpopular kid in school. However, the day after his thirteenth birthday, Evan's life takes a dramatic turn. While visiting the heroes' amusement park, he is injected with something that gives him superpowers. The next thing he knows, he's saving Captain Commanding from a group of super villains, and wakes up later in Mask school. Evan discovers that life in Mask is challenging, and the truth about their existence is complicated. Evan discovers Captain Commanding is actually a pain in the butt, and OSIRIS, the organization overseeing Mask, is up to something. Why would the organization not want to capture all of the super villains, and how are the criminals escaping so easily from prison? Something huge and unexpected is coming!

I liked the idea of recruiting superheroes and putting the kids into training. Some of the superpowers were unusual, as one blind character could see through other people's eyes and another could change by touching metals. I enjoyed the author's choice for Evan's mentor. His mentor was a washed up, ex-drunk superhero who didn't really want to fight crime anymore. He only offered to mentor Evan in order to tick off his ex-partner, Captain Commanding. Overall, the mystery behind OSIRIS, the character interactions, and the adventure and action scenes resulted in a wonderful plot. The only thing I didn't like was the author's decision to create some cutesy characters. Seriously, Fluffinator? The first part of the book moved a little slowly for me, since the author had a lot of background information to work into the story. However, the rest of the book made up for it! Overall, it's an entertaining book for lovers of superheroes.