Review: Sidekicks

Sidekicks
By Dan Santat
Published 2011 by Arthur A. Levine Books

Captain Amazing is not as young and spry as he once was. Maybe he needs a sidekick to help him fight the never-ending crime in Metro City. Some surprising candidates show up - and each one of Captain Amazing's pets think that they will be the best sidekick. Who will prevail?

I picked this up on a whim - I spotted it on the shelves and thought, 'well, it's a graphic novel so it won't take me too long to read.' Plus, it looked really cute. I'm really glad I picked it up. This is a fun and funny story about four pets who long to spend more time with their superhero owner. But, I mean, he's a superhero so he's pretty busy. The solution comes when Captain Amazing holds auditions for a sidekick. Each one of his pets is determined to come out on top. Of course, things don't go quite as planned - the auditions are interrupted by a villain. The sidekicks must work together to help Captain Amazing and save Metro City. It's a nice tale about teamwork and finding out that everyone has their own special talent. The artwork is bright and sort of classic comic style - it works really well for the story. I really enjoyed this one.