Wonder Woman at Super Hero High

By Lisa Yee (Author)

Random House (Publisher)

Review by Maia Bankhead

I usually make it a rule to stay as far away from comic-based novels as possible; they’re one of the few types of books I never touch. To me, they’ve never given comic books justice, as they tend to butcher the characters. So I admit I was hesitant when I agreed to read one of these “atrocities” featuring my favorite comic book heroine. Who, in the book, is a teenager. In high school. “This,” I thought, “is going to be a nightmare.” Luckily, Lisa Yee proved me wrong.  As the daughter of Queen Hippolyta of Paradise Island, Wonder Woman is the most sought-out hero for every “super academy” on Earth, and then some. Hippolyta has her reasons for wanting her daughter to stay on the island. But Wonder Woman craves her independence, and she soon enters a world of sarcasm, gossip, and boys (thank Zeus, that last one is just a subplot). The book, at its core, is the “typical” high school experience, if you can call it that. But when Amanda Waller is your principal and you have a “save the day” alarm, you probably wouldn’t. Wondy’s the new girl, unable to understand things like being Internet famous or why someone would hate her over an accidental injury during gym class.  The whole world’s watching, and she doesn’t like it. Plus, there are a lot of “forgotten” DC characters like Liberty Belle, Crazy Quilt, and the Ratcatcher. Little gems like that make you fangirl at random moments. Overall, I actually liked this book, though for the first few chapters I had doubts due to its fast pace. Little did I know that I was being set up for something…wonderful.