In Strictly No Heroics, a normal teen girl must navigate crushing on her best friend, starting a new summer job, and not being squashed during...

In Strictly No Heroics, a normal teen girl must navigate crushing on her best friend, starting a new summer job, and not being squashed during the next supervillain showdown in B.L. Radley's young adult debut filled with humor and heart.

A Normie's guide to staying alive in Sunnylake City:

1. Keep your head down.
2. Don't make enemies.
3. Strictly no heroics.

The world is run by those with the Super gene, and Riley Jones doesn't have it. She's just a Normie, ducking her way around the hero vs. villain battles that constantly demolish Sunnylake City, working at a crappy diner to save up money for therapy, and trying to figure out how to tell her family that she's queer. But when Riley retaliates against a handsy superhero at work, she finds herself in desperate need of employment, and the only place that will hire her is HENCH.

Yes, HENCH, as in henchmen: masked cronies who take villains' coffee orders, vacuum their secret lairs, and posture in the background while they fight. Riley's plan is to mind her own business and get paid...but that quickly devolves when she witnesses a horrible murder on the job. Caught in the thick of a gentrification plot, a unionization effort, and a developing crush on her prickly fellow henchwoman, Riley must face the possibility that even a powerless Normie can take a stand against injustice.

Author: B. L. Radley
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Published: 03/28/2023
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 8.35h x 5.51w x 1.34d
ISBN: 9781250818478
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2023
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 02/01/2023
Publishers Weekly 01/16/2023