Gwenda Bond concocts an intelligent novel that moves faster than a speeding bullet, with an original story about Lois Lane's teen life and a mysterious online pen pal called "SmallvilleGuy."
Lois has moved more times than she'd like to admit. Her military father insists that this time they're setting down roots in Metropolis (a thinly disguised New York City), so Lois better keep her head down. Within her first hour at her new school, Lois overhears an earnest student, Anavi, describing to the principal the bullying she's experiencing from a band of gamers. The principal, about to introduce a guest for assembly, brushes off Anavi's complaints, and Lois butts in, to Anavi's horror. The guest, an editor at the Daily Planet, asks Lois to join his online teen news forum, the Daily Scoop. Lois becomes the reader's guide to a gaming-military initiative so complex that even the designers of the game don't realize how far-reaching its side effects are. The Warheads recruit talented gamers and conscript them into a kind of hive mind, completing each other's sentences and moving in synch.
Bond's high-stakes plot keeps the pages turning; the teens solve their problems themselves without Superman's superpowers to save the day. The author mixes in the rewards of friendship and a hint of romance. Lois proves a model of trusting one's instincts and standing up for what's right--the rest will follow. May this be the first of many more. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness