BIGGER, BADDER, NERDIER

In the sequel to Skye’s dystopian A Lame New World (2018), awkward “semi-superheroes” hatch a plan to save their school from its nefarious secretary—again.

Thanks to mutant spider bites, Tip can mentally activate machines; Mindy can damage “almost anything” by clapping; Xen emits destructive belches; and glowing-eyed Owen hears distant sounds “like a freak” but struggles to hear up close. Having established “a little street cred,” the League of Average and Mediocre Entities must thwart retirement-hungry Darth Susan’s latest convoluted scheme to close Otto Waddle Jr. High Government Outpost. Occasional political satire, with President Flake heading an authoritarian government from the Blight House, alternates with self-deprecating humor and copious, clunky puns and parodies. Readers wanting laughs will either giggle or groan (“There was trouble afoot, and afoot trouble is almost as bad as abutt trouble”); those seeking character depth won’t find it in Tip’s frequently expository narration or his friends’ plot-driven dialogue. However, some readers might find zany catharsis for school woes as LAME confronts bullies; geek and gender stereotypes; farcically misanthropic faculty; and gleefully evil Darth Susan, who totes a tyrant-quoting “daily cruel-planner.” Comic-style illustrations continue the characters’ dialogue—and their puns. Mindy and Owen are depicted as kids of color, and Tip and Xen present white.

Despite its Wimpy Kid–esque style, this uneven entry may leave comic-diary fans echoing a lukewarm movie review within it: “[It’s] okay, all right, fine, acceptable, and whatever.” (Graphic/fantasy hybrid. 9-12)