Hero

Published in 2010, Hero is an adventure novel for middle-grade readers about a teenage boy who develops superpowers and uses them to avenge the murder of his superhero father. In the process, he must learn to control his emotions, find a mentor he can trust, protect those he loves, and defeat powerful assailants.

Author Mike Lupica is a sports columnist, TV commentator, and bestselling writer whose more than three dozen books range from sports biographies to young-reader fiction.

Summary

On a snowy night in Bosnia, Tom Harriman, a troubleshooting diplomat for the US president, uses his superpowers to overrun a heavily guarded house, capture the war criminal who lives there, and fly him out of the country to face prosecution in London. As he takes off, he sees a white-haired man standing calmly on the runway. Harriman manages to avoid him, but he knows the man, and he’s shaken to see him.

A few days later, Tom’s 14-year-old son, Zach, hurries home from school in Manhattan, sensing something’s wrong. He arrives at his family’s posh Fifth Avenue apartment—where he lives with his parents, housekeeper Alba, and Alba’s daughter Kate, his best friend—and learns his father died in a plane crash. Zach mourns the loss; then, convinced it wasn’t an accident, he begins an online search for information about the crash.

At school, Zach’s enemy, student body president Spence Warren, who’s jealous of Zach’s friendship with Kate, taunts and bullies Zach about his closeness to her. Zach usually backs down, but today he tells Spence to shut up. They nearly come to blows, but Kate interrupts them. Zach finds a brick wall and punches it until he’s spent, but his knuckles are unharmed.

Zach’s mom, Elizabeth, holds a campaign fundraiser at the apartment on behalf of Senator Bob Kerrigan’s run for the presidency. Kerrigan speaks of courage and honor, and the group loves it. Later, he tells Zach that he meant it when he said Zach’s father was the best man he ever knew. Late that night, family attorney John Marshall argues with Elizabeth, saying Kerrigan is another phony.

Kate senses that Zach is keeping a secret from her; Zach confesses that he believes his dad’s death was planned. Kate worries that Zach will lose himself in a fruitless search for justice over an accident. Feeling frustrated, Zach walks at night to Central Park, where he confronts a mugger and scares him off.

Spence continues to taunt Zach during basketball practice, hitting him hard in the back of the head with a basketball. Zach catches Spence walking home, and they fight: Spence wins easily and walks away. Zach’s head hurts, but otherwise, he’s unharmed.

At home, he asks to be taken to the crash site, but his mom refuses. That weekend, he gets Kate to cover for him while he sneaks out to the site. He busses and taxis to the eastern tip of Long Island, where he finds the hole where his dad’s plane crashed. Half-buried there, he finds a Morgan dollar, the twin to the one his dad gave him years earlier for luck. A white-haired man appears, introduces himself as Mr. Herbert, and explains that he taught Zach’s father about the “magic” he had inside, magic that Zach also possesses. The man walks quickly away; holding the coin, Zach rushes after him but finds himself back in Central Park seconds later.

Zach tells Kate what happened; she believes him. He asks his mother what she knows about his father’s childhood; she knows very little. On a walk in Central Park with Kate, three muggers confront Zach, demanding his coin. Zach knocks out two of them; the third, the mugger whom Zach earlier confronted, darts away, while the other two simply disappear.

Trying to make sense of what she witnessed, Kate later returns to the park, where the mugger tries to grab her, but Zach appears and overpowers him, and he runs away. A few weeks later, Zach and John Marshall spend the day wandering the city and end up in Central Park, where a giant man tries to kidnap the boy: John fights the giant but gets knocked out; Zach puts in some well-aimed punches but loses badly and ends up in the hospital. While he’s there, Mr. Herbert visits and says Zach needs to train quickly with his new abilities. John Marshall later drops by and warns Zach that Mr. Herbert is a member of “the Bads,” an evil group.

During spring break, Zach, Kate, and Alba spend a week at the Harriman vacation house in eastern Long Island. Zach and Kate visit the crash site, where four men accost them, and Zach makes short work of them. Mr. Herbert appears and admits he’s been controlling all the attacks to train Zach for his destiny as the new superpowered hero. Because Zach’s father, the previous hero, is dead, Zach must now fill his shoes.

Back in New York, John warns Zach that Mr. Herbert is the real threat. Zach and Kate don’t know whom to believe; they agree that Zach must hold both at arm’s length until he knows for sure.

While studying in Central Park, Zach is interrupted by Mr. Herbert, who gets him to practice his skills. They play hide-and-seek, and Zach quickly learns to find Mr. Herbert almost instantly, every time. Days later, Mr. Herbert appears again, and they practice more skills. Afterward, Zach secretly follows him to John’s apartment. When Mr. Herbert re-emerges, Zach demands to know what he’s up to. The old man says he’s trying to make things right. 

Senator Kerrigan begins a major speech before a huge crowd in Central Park. Standing next to the stage and sensing something amiss, Zach scans the nearby buildings and sees a man aiming a rifle at the Senator. Zach pushes Kerrigan to the ground as a bullet flies past. Mr. Herbert pushes Zach down as well but gets hit by a bullet. He tells Zach his father would be proud; before he dies, the old man also admits that he’s Zach’s grandfather.

Zach visits John and accuses him of helping the Bads kill his father and fire on Kerrigan. John doesn’t disagree but insists it’s for a greater cause. Zach tells him never to contact him or his mother again.

No longer afraid and sure of his mission, Zach decides it’s the Bads who need to worry because he’s coming for them.