Hero in Disguise (Villain School Series)

by Stephanie S. Sanders

Overview

At Master Dreadthorn's School for Wayward Villains, young villains must learn to be bad. Rune Drexler, Big Bad Wolf Jr., and Jezebel Dracula are feeling pretty good (or bad!) about their evildoer skills. But that was before two new students joined the ranks: Princess Ileana and mad-scientist-in-training, Dodge VonDoe. The new kids have big secrets. One of them is actually a student at Dr. Do-Good's School for Superior Superheroes and he or she is here to take down Master Dreadthorn. Can Rune and Co. protect their school from the superheroes?

Everything you know about good and evil is turned upside down in this delightful series where the "bad guys" wind up saving the world . . . reluctantly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781599909080
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	10/02/2012
Series:	Villain School Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

STEPHANIE S. SANDERS lives in Iowa with her two mischievous girls and her deceptively sweet husband. When not plotting against her own characters, Stephanie is likely to be found reading dangerous books or eating indecent amounts of chocolate. She is also the author of Villain School: Good Curses Evil.
www.stephsanders.com

STEPHANIE S. SANDERS lives in Iowa with her two mischievous girls and her deceptively sweet husband. When she's not plotting against her own characters, Stephanie is likely to be found creating strange works of art, taking incriminating photographs, reading dangerous books, or eating indecent amounts of chocolate.

www.stephsanders.com

Editorial Reviews

Gr 3–6—Rune Drexler is back in this witty, silly addition to the series. His year starts off in a grand fashion when a new student, Dodge, is assigned as his roommate. Dodge takes a dramatic interest in Rune's father, the school's headmaster, and his crystal ball. After he executes a daredevil stunt to break into the girls' dorm, the crystal ball turns up missing. Rune and his friends soon find out that Dodge is a spy from the Hero School, sent to get the crystal ball in an attempt to eventually take over the world. In keeping with the role reversal of heroes acting like villains, the villains decide that they want to take the object back and foil the heroes' evil plot. The story is a bit clichéd at times with the stereotypical warlock, werewolf, and vampire characters, but Sanders's well-crafted writing provides excellent comic relief and unexpected growth from these stock characters. The action and humor take center stage, but there is also a romance element for those looking for a little love. Enjoyable but forgettable, this is a quick-paced read that will be appreciated by those who love antiheros but aren't quite ready for Cadel Piggott from Catherine Jinks's Evil Genius (Harcourt, 2007) or even Artemis from Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl" series. (Disney/Hyperion).—Devin Burritt, Wells Public Library, ME

School Library Journal

Master Dreadthorn's School for Wayward Villains again (Good Curses Evil, 2011) lives up to the "Wayward" as some of its more challenged students keep rescuing captives and saving the day. Never the brightest of bulbs, headmaster's son Rune Drexler fails to notice a series of broad clues--from leading questions to a glimpse of red undies over bright blue tights--that his new roommate, "Dodge VonDoe," is really a spy from Doctor Do-Good's School for Superior Superheroes. Until, that is, his father and a certain crystal ball disappear and the school is taken over by the genuinely villainous Mistress Morgana. As it turns out, VonDoe (or to use his real name Deven Do-Good) is both working for Morgana and plotting to boot out his own superhero father. Deven is also a thoroughgoing bully on his own turf, which leads to his ultimate downfall. Sanders throws family revelations, secret passages, reconciliations, villain humor ("Ugh, monologues. It was hard to believe Morgana had become such a powerful villainess when she was always blabbing her plans to everyone") and even a horrifying (to some) prophecy about villains becoming heroes into the mix, and dishes out just deserts to all. An airy school story beneath a veneer of fantasy, low both on violence and actual villainy. (Light fantasy. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews