Thumbs Up For @mattdelapena and SUPERMAN: DAWNBREAKER (2019) - A Book I Needed Right Now

I've been telling everyone that I jumped into the 21st Century this Spring (part of my Chrysalis year of cocooning and (re)figuring teaching, research and service) and I now have a Smart TV, Smart Phone, and even an Alexis Echo. When I made the decision to visit family in CNY, I also downloaded Audible through Amazon, and was able to get a copy of Matt De La Peña's Superman: Dawnbreaker. I heard him allude to this piece of work a year or so ago and what I remember him saying is that Superman is an alien, too...it's just that he has legal status through his adoption by Jonathan and Martha Kent. I've never been a DC Comics fanatic, but remember vividly watching the Christopher Reeve film from 1978 as a six-years old. I loved every second of the movie (and with a cable box, equipped with its long wire to the couch, I probably watched the it 30 times throughout my childhood - that's what elementary and middle school kids did at the time).

The SUPERMAN: DAWNBREAKER (public by DC Comics with Penguin Random House) audiobook was narrated by Andrew Eldon, whose voice at times comes across like Bat-Dad of the You-Tube Batman fame (well, Val Kilmer, as Batman). His voice was gruff at times, but  captivating and I quickly became hooked on the storyline over my 4-hour trek to Syracuse and then 4 days later, the 4-hour return.

In De La Peña's book, Clark is a focused, genuine adolescent and I love the bildungsroman as he came to terms with the strange superpowers he has and his tremendous passions for his community of Smallville, Kansas (a metaphor for everywhere U.S.A.). The community, however, is disrupted when corporations realize that the soil around craters on the Clark farm have chemical usefulness - powerful ingredients that was caused by the landing from Krypton when Jor-El and Lara sent their baby boy, Kal-El, to earth in hopes he might be saved from their own planet's destruction (and perhaps be of use to another planet)

Clark's best friend, Lana Lane, as well as his crush, Gloria, help to move the story along, especially as brown and black individuals begin to disappear. There is a protest amongst of many in the community  when they learn that friends and neighbors are mysteriously being picked up and taken away. This, and the town is voting on a new law to stop and question anyone who is 'other' in the town. In De La Peña's story, the nefarious plot by CEOs and scientists to take over Smallville, the nation, and perhaps the world, causes Clark to wrestle with his identity as a high school boy who also happens to have incredible powers. It is his story of stepping up and out into the world as one not afraid to fight what is wrong. Of course, he's not the only one. His friend, Bryan, too becomes a hero as the story unfolds, as well (and I was glad to get home and check how De La Peña spelled his name...glad he went with the "y" - ha!)

Nations believe in superheroes, because we need them.  We need  those who have the moral center of family, modesty, integrity and doing what is right, especially with a mission for - at least in this country - democracy, during a time when so many prefer the other direction.

I love that Clark has respect, admiration, and absolute love and respect for his adoptive parents. As the audiobook ended, I wanted more. I'm in need of such stories: hope, belief, and the knowledge that sometimes good does win in the end.

Overall, the story was captivating, intriguing, and one for a new generation of American readers, especially young ones living during a time where Young Adult Novels are booming.

I should note, too, that I didn't make my mother happy. She's not only a Matt de la Peña fan, she's got a huge crush on him. She told everyone over Easter break how We Were Here is one of her favorite books she's ever read. I brought the hard copy of SUPERMAN: DAWNBREAKER home with me and told her I was listening to the audiobook. She didn't understand why I wouldn't leave the hardcover behind. I simply said, "I need this book for my summer. I will be sure to get you a copy soon." That was cruel of me, I know.

The focus this summer, with my colleague Dr. Susan James at Western Florida State University, is The Superpower of Hope. I can't wait to share this book with teachers and youth! We need a little Clark (and some Bryan) in our worlds (wink wink).