Boy 2.0 (Boy 2.0 #1)
by Tracey Baptiste (Author)
An action-packed superhero story from New York Times bestselling author Tracey Baptiste
Win “Coal” Keegan has just landed in his latest foster home, with a big, noisy, slightly nosy family named the McKays. They seem eager to welcome Coal, but he’s wary of trusting them. So, he doesn’t tell them that he went for a walk with chalk in his pocket to cover a nearby street with his art. He doesn’t tell them that a neighbor found Coal drawing, pulled a gun on him, and fired it. He doesn’t tell them the police chased him. And he definitely doesn’t tell them that when everything went down, Coal somehow turned invisible.
But he did.
Now he has to figure out how. Is he a superhero? Some kind of mutant? A science experiment? Is that why he has no family of his own? As Coal searches for answers and slowly learns to control his invisibility, he turns to the McKay kids and friends both new and old for help. But they soon discover they’re not the only ones looking for a Black boy with superpowers, and the situation is far stranger—and more dangerous—than they ever could have expected.
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Kirkus
An experiment in grace and care that’s as hopeful as it is imaginative.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-A thrilling superhero origin story. Win "Coal" Keegan, 13, has just been placed in a new foster home and he takes a walk through the neighborhood to scout locations for his chalk art. A neighbor fires a gun at him and he is chased by the police. Coal is terrified; his fear triggers a family gift and Coal's skin becomes invisible. In his search for the cause behind his newfound power, Coal catches the attention of Mirror Tech Industries and must find his answers before they find him. The McKay kids, his new foster siblings, are quick to rally around Coal as he learns more about his new ability. Friendships new and old bring the perfect amount of levity and humor to a highly suspenseful story. Although this is a superhero tale, Baptiste beautifully weaves in a variety of significant topics like racial justice, science, and mindfulness. The villains' search for Coal resolves itself very quickly at the end, but hopefully the origin story here paves the way for future adventures. Coal and the McKays are cued Black and most other characters are racially ambiguous. VERDICT This is sure to be a hit with fans of the X-Men franchise, but Baptiste's inclusion of real-world topics is the story's true superpower.
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
ALA/Booklist
Baptiste neatly contrasts Coal’s sense of social invisibility to his actual invisibility, all of which lead him to finding his place in the world.
Review quotes
"I'm honestly not sure how Baptiste spun biology, anthropology, chemistry, politics, and foster care into a suspenseful romp about family and the extraordinary nature of ordinary people, but she did. And it's masterful. Is Boy 2.0 the origin story of our new favorite superhero? Or a metaphoric nod to the lives of everyday Black boys in America? Or...both? Either way, this is a special, special read."—Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestselling author of Long Way Down and Twenty-Four Seconds from Now
"Tracey Baptiste blends heart wrenching realism with unpredictable science fiction, to create an unputdownable tale about a boy’s quest to find the truth about his family and his power. Baptiste cleverly tackles real-world issues in a story filled with easter eggs and plot twists that are sobering, eye-opening, and downright irresistible."—Kwame Alexander, Newbery Medal-winning author of The Crossover and The Door of No Return
JUV011010 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JUV071000 - Juvenile Fiction | Superheroes
