Team Hero: The battle for shadow sword (by Adam Blade)

(Amazon UK link)

My grandchildren have always loved books. Despite both of them now being fairly fluent readers, I’m often asked to read to them - something I love to do. I kept reading to my sons until they were in their late teens, and love introducing children to books they might otherwise not have read.

However, this works both ways. My eight-year-old grandson had just bought, at a charity shop, a book called ‘Team Hero: The battle for shadow sword’. The author is listed as 'Adam Blade', apparently a name used by a group of co-writers of children's adventure stories. Although this is intended for young readers, my grandson insisted that it was such a good book that I should read it to him, and his five-year-old sister. And, being a good Grandma, I agreed.

As I read the prologue I wondered about the suitability of the book for sensitive minds. We meet a community of evil monsters, controlled by a brutal general, and it’s clear they are intent on taking over the world and destroying humanity. There is more detail than I was comfortable with, and I began to wonder if the book was really for older children. But a glance at the back reassured me that the recommended age was 7-10. My grandson told me that this was just an introduction, and that the book would get better.

Sure enough, the ‘real world’ part of the story begins with chapter one. We meet young Jack, a boy who is not happy at school because he’s considered a freak. His hands are scaly like a lizard, and he wears thick gloves. He gets teased regularly and is somewhat depressed about it. He and his class are out walking on a field trip one day when suddenly the ground opens up and Jack instinctively rushes into the street in front of a taxi which looks as though it’s about to plough into the abyss. To his astonishment, and the disbelief of those around him, he manages to stop the taxi… and his hands start glowing.

A strange looking woman appears at his side, and tells him his powers have started, and that he needs to go to a different school called Hero Academy. His parents don’t seem to have any problem with him being sent to a boarding school they have never heard of, where they can’t even go in with him to see around or meet anyone. Then Jack’s first day is filled with more adventure and tension than could possibly be imagined.

As a book for reluctant or struggling readers, particularly (without wishing to be sexist) boys, it seems like a great idea. My grandson is far from reluctant as a reader, but he found the adventure exciting. He has already now read it again himself, and hopes to find others in the series. My granddaughter seemed to like it too, and wasn’t at all worried by the violent aspect. They were confident enough that good would overcome evil, and that the three main characters - Jack, and two students who befriend him - will continue to have more adventures in the subsequent books in the series.

It isn’t a bad story. The chapters are short, and it evidently appeals to this age group, although I found the storyline rather predictable. The basic idea feels just a tad overdone to me: two young boys and a girl who meet at a boarding school join forces to defeat the powers of darkness. And some of the detail seems rather gory to me, though it didn’t appear to bother my grandchildren.

At the end there’s a kind of history of the ‘Hero Academy’ school in conversational form, along with a few other details such as daily timetables. So it’s evidently well-thought-out. I’m not sure I would recommend it, however. In my view, there are many better books for this age-group. But young children like what’s popular with their friends, and it’s certainly better than the introduction would suggest.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's Book Reviews