Strings - The Ables Book 2, by Jeremy Scott

In The Ables, Jeremy Scott put a fresh twist on the superhero origin story, turning a special ed class into a band of superheroes.  I loved the message of inclusiveness and empowerment.  In the sequel, Strings - The Ables Book 2, Scott picks up the story a few years later.  The kids are older, and the special ed class is now larger, bringing in some new emerging heroes.

In the years since The Ables, custodians, as people with super powers are called, have become personae non gratae.  Residents of their enclave of custodians are disappearing, and custodians are showing up around the country doing uncharacteristically criminal acts around the country.  When Phillip, the leader of the Ables, has to face down his own father multiple times, he knows that someone else is controlling the bad acting custodians.

Phillip and his friends show extraordinary creativity as they begin to realize that they are more powerful than they had realized, and that by working together they can be even more powerful.  In Strings, the themes of disability and inclusion fade more into the background, but still play a crucial role in the Ables' activities as they take on those who want to lock up all the custodians.

Book 2 is not as fresh as The Ables, and Scott makes a few leaps in the plot that make the story more uneven than I remember The Ables being.  But it's still a lot of fun and inspiring, a reminder that even those who society looks at as disabled have extraordinary abilities indeed.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!