Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain Paperback – February 15, 2014

Roberts might feel that his "perky supervillain" series -- the /Please Don't Tell My Parents/ books, now at 8 volumes -- are a side project tangential to what he says is his real interest, which is to take archetypal fairy-tale and fantasy concepts to their logical conclusion. And that latter concern has produced some terrific novels, such as /A Rag Doll's Guide to Here and There/. But there's no denying the appeal of the /Please Don't Tell/ books, or their substance. These are a prime example of what young-adult fantasy can be when it's done well. This first installment doesn't quite make the very top tier, but some of the later ones do.As the series opens here, Penelope Akk -- most of Roberts' protagonists are strong early-teen girls, which is also a plus in my estimation -- finds her superpower; she's a mad scientist, and soon she and her two best friends are nicely equipped with an entertainingly oddball collection of fantasy technology and enhancements. The beginning is a bit slower than most of Roberts' other novels, but soon is rollicking along in superpowered adventure. The fun doesn't prevent Roberts from introducing real conflict, though, both among characters and through various ethical questions. And those stakes rise as the series progresses.Roberts has a light hand with exposition; readers get enough details from the characters to begin to infer just how an abundance of super-powered heroes and villains, ranging from engaging goofballs to murderous lunatics, with their own peculiar codes of conduct and agreements, alters the social and political structure of Penny's world. He has a handful of clever devices for filling in the picture, such as the conversations between Penny and her friends about video games. There isn't a lot of time spent in overt world-building, though. We see the world through Penny's eyes and concentrate on her concerns, particularly on the tension between reveling in her abilities and making the right choice. Ultimately these novels are primarily about the growth of the characters and the relationships they form.I have these as ebooks, and I'm now picking them up in paper, for my own use and to share. I suspect my older granddaughter is at an age to enjoy them immensely.

Has any of you ever watched Sky High? It's a super cool - and very underrated - movie about a kid whose parents are superheroes and he wants to be like them, but seems to be normal despite going to a high school designated to educate the future heroes and sidekicks. Well, the concept of Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain is pretty familiar in some plot points with that.Penelope "Penny" Akk has it rough. Her parents are the retired heroes Audit and Brainy Akk, two super geniuses, and the middle school girl cannot wait to get her own powers. Everyone keeps telling her to wait, but what do they know? She's so close to unlocking them, she can just feel it! So when her powers do come in a rather abrupt manner, she knows it will be better to keep it a secret and surprise her family later, when she has full control of them. But things never go as planned. A science fair goes wrong, and then her best friend slash crush, Ray Viles, goes picking a fight with Miss A, Original's sidekick. What's a girl to do? What else? She stands by his side and fights, too, and with the help of their friend, Claire Lutra, they win. Too bad they can't celebrate their victory. Now word is out that they're the new black in supervillainy - and heroes and sidekicks won't stop chasing them until they're down! Can Penny stop this madness that her secrets and rash decisions have caused and convince the public she's actually one of the good guys, before her parents find out? And what if, despite denying it, she's actually good at being bad?As Penny herself would say... Criminy! Who would have thought that I would end up cheering for supervillains? And middle school ones at that! But it's true. The Inscrutable Machine was one team I wouldn't mind to keep as the bad guys!Penny and her friends were the most refreshing trio I have read - ever since the all-too-famous Golden Trio, that is. They had their ups and downs, and the usual "problems" a middle schooler faces in life, but they tried to see the bright side, and always had a plan to get out of each mess they created - even if their plan rarely worked. They were, first and foremost, a TEAM. Sure, they came at odds with each other, and not all of their feelings were pure. Claire was too self-absorbed and shallow, Ray was a bit too much of a materialist and tended to forget he was the one who got the girls in the heroes' wanted list, and Penny would sometimes forget of anything else other than her own powers and would get unreasonably jealous of Ray mooning over Claire. Oh, yes, I almost forgot about the love trianle. Yeah, there was one, too.BUT! (And it's a big but, mind you)Here's the thing. You just can't stay mad at them. Or find it in your heart to dislike the romantic confusion among them. Why? Because Richard Roberts is apparently a genius in what he's doing! Early in the story, Penny informs the reader about the situation:"Love triangles suck."When I read that line, I freaked out. I hate love triangles. I avoid them as much as possible. But it turns out that Penny's admission of the problem did the trick, as it served to give a light and humoristic atmosphere. Sure, she was jealous of Claire because of Ray's attraction to her, but she never let that get in the way of their teamwork. She sulked a bit, but that was it. Claire was a shallow and sometimes naive girl, but she would cut her own arm off for her friends - and proved to be more mature and observative in rare occasions. As for Ray, while we never really found out what was his family situation was, it looked like he had missed out on lots of material goods, so it was somewhat natural for him to get dazzled by the sparkles that came with super powers and the cookies that the dark side had to offer.Now, don't go thinking it was just the characters that kept the story interesting. Not at all! Mr. Roberts has a way with words that makes you unwind and enjoy yourself, as you witness the adventures of this unlikeable trio. Their powers were a delight to read into full development. Their comments and the dialogues through the book were funny and sarcastic, and it was often hard to remember that, hellooo, these are NOT adults we're dealing with, but little kids! The only times when their age showed was when they "fangirled" or when they screwed up - and since this writer has obviously done his homework, this happened a lot, and with all the times having a specific gap between them so that it would not get boring AND add to the suspense and the character growth.With a plot that is so familiar and yet so new, three main characters that crack you up and make you want to cuddle with them, villains and heroes that never stay on their respectful sides but venture in gray areas whenever it suits them, and lots of fancy, intriguing gadgets, it's no wonder why I recommend this book wholeheartedly. The Inscrutable Machine are sure to guarantee you the best of times!***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***

Penny, a teenage nerd in middle school, is also the daughter of a pair of retired superheroes. She can't wait to grow up and get her powers so that she can follow in their footsteps as the next generation of superhero. Hoping to surprise her parents, she keeps quiet when her powers turn up years earlier than expected. On her first mission, however, she runs into a superhero sidekick who, it turns out, is also the mean girl at her school. Admittedly, the sidekick had it coming, but when Penny and her friends defeat her, they get labelled as villains instead of heroes. Try as they might, they can't convince the world that it was all a mistake, mostly because they're just so very good at being villains. And if they're going to be villains anyway, they may as well be the best supervillains they can be.Really hope that there is a sequel.

Interesting book.A mite misleading since the description suggests they're heroes who are accused of being villains because of an unfortunate incident with the sidekick of another hero.Looking forward to the sequel as it might explain better the relationship between the heroes and villains because from what I've read so far they should have been caught before the end of the first book and got away only because the adult heroes were busy attending a conference instead of their so-called vocation.Give this series a look, its worth the price!

This book went beyond all my expectations. I brought it because of the title and tag line, but the storyline has meant that I read the whole thing cover to cover twice with out pause because of how captivating it is. I've since reread it again, and I plan to read it for a fourth time in the next week in time for the sequel coming out. It captures all the fun of a superhero universe, but with out any of that annoying preachiness you get in some comics. Or stupid storylines because you don't want to upset the states quo. Read this book.

Despite the advertising blurb of "What if Harry Potter was Steampunk?" It is not Steampunk.What it is, is a very good and enjoyable book with humour, good characters, 'believable' behaviour and enough of a take on Superhero/Supervillany Comic book stories to make it work.Fans of comic books will appreciate it, people who like innovative story lines will like it, people who like SF will like it.Once I started on it I couldn't stop reading it and YES this seriously deserves a sequel or two.

This is an excellent book. It's aimed at a young adult audience, and I think it works on that level (but I'm no longer a young adult).It crosses the barrier, however. The writing is good, the characters are believable, they don't do the usual stupid stuff you'd expect kids with powers might do (though they get up to their share of nonsense).