Iggy Loomis - Superkid in Training

Iggy Loomis - Superkid in Training 
by Jennifer Allison

For fans of Captain Underpants, here comes Iggy Loomis -- already a huge pain in his older brother Daniel’s you-know-what. But when a science experiment gone wrong makes Iggy’s DNA mutate, Iggy gets cool super powers! Is Iggy going to turn into an alien? Daniel needs to stop Iggy right now—before EVERYONE gets in trouble! With aliens, gadgets, space travel, superpowers, spies, and Jennifer Allison’s humor, this story is an out-of-this-world blast! (description from Amazon.com)

Okay, you all should know that I'm a HUGE fan of the Gilda Joyce series.  I love Gilda! So, when Jennifer's assistant, Sophie, contacted me to ask if I wanted to check out her newest book, IGGY LOOMIS - SUPERKID IN TRAINING, I was delighted to say yes! (Thank you, Sophie!)

This book was fun and exciting for younger readers.  It has great and realistic family relationships.  Daniel is your average kid dealing with a younger brother and sister that happen to be twins! Iggy is a whirlwind of a kid...leaving trails of destroyed toys in his wake, and while Daniel loves him, there's also NO WAY that Daniel wants to share a room with him.  But... to see the way that Daniel protects Iggy, Iggy protects Daniel, the way that Iggy protects his twin sister... and the way that their parents love them all, what a great message for kids!  

Aside from having a crazy family, Daniel meets a cool, but strange boy from next door named Alistair. When he discovers Alistair's secret (he's really an alien, shhh...don't tell!) things start to get truly WILD. I died laughing as Daniel, and us readers, learned that Alistair's people were here to find the perfect conditions to grow new strains of broccoli, the only food his people eat.  All the technologies that Alistair uses, however, to test conditions and species end up becoming problematic for Daniel... especially when Iggy ends up mutating his own DNA with insect species' DNA by accident... 

I really enjoyed both the story of this book and the illustrations by Mike Moran.  I thought this would be a perfect book to give to any 3rd or 4th grader.  It has aliens, science, toys, and interesting friend and family relationships that just about any kid could relate to easily.  I'm happily going to be ordering this book for our library's collection! 

Full disclosure: Review copy provided by author