The Shadow Hero - Gene Luen Yang, Sonny Liew
Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me. In Shadow Hero (First Second, $17.99), Gene Leun Yang (American Born Chinese, Boxers and Saints) and Sonny Liew’s Sticks and Stones are tongs that literally break Hank’s bones, while he attempts to defend his dad from their extortion schemes in a 1940s Chinatown. At his mother’s insistence, he becomes a superhero who tries to bring American justice to old-world Chinese thugs, all the while attempting to keep his dignity as cops sling racist words at him. This is a classic golden-era superhero tale, with the spirit guardians of China lurking in the shadows. Ages 12-18. Emily Ellerbe