This is more about Miles Morales as a young Black and Puerto Rican student at an elite high school rather than as a superhero. There's only a little of the superhero stuff. I liked this for the character study of Miles

I love this novelization of Miles Morales as Spiderman, and so do my students. This book is a definite hit with kids, and an asset to any library or classroom collection.

Did Not Finish. I did not find the story super compelling. I think I will stick to super hero movies vs Super hero books.

If you want a twist on Spider-Man that is unlike no other, you've found the right place. Jason Reynolds doesn't disappoint again (does he ever?). This is a story that boys and girls will both enjoy thoroughly. Even if you aren't a fan of superheroes, this will take you into the life of Miles without getting too superhero-y on you. Highly recommend by teacher and 5th graders.

While Peter Parker is setting the big screen alight, his counterpart Miles Morales is only just now starting to get the same amount of love from Marvel in terms of tie-ins etc.
This is a well-written novel that shows both sides of Miles' life, and when his Spidey side starts to go wrong, it effects his school life, risking everything he's worked for.
While it could be a reach using this as a set text or integrating it into learning, this would still be a great book to have on classroom shelves for free-reading.

Recommended for readers 8-11

While I definitely enjoyed my experience reading this book, there are some issues with pacing and character development in the middle that left me wanting just a bit more.

Jason Reynolds is brilliant! What an awesome introduction to the character with really important race issues also discussed.

I assumed this would be a graphic novel; it is not, it is a YA novel about the young Spiderman, but not the one played by Tom Holland, but a black and Puerto Rican scholarship student at Brooklyn Visions Academy. One of his antagonists in this is his history teacher Mr. Chamberlain.
His dad has his buddies over to play cards. It turns out each of them has had a Mr. Chamberlain to hold them down: a dean of discipline in Brooklyn, an English teacher who embarrassed his poorly reading student, rather than teach him, and a principal in Mississippi who expelled a promising student for fighting back when another student spat on him.
This is really good.

I absolutely burned through this book in one setting. Jason Reynolds is a master of character development, and he's done such a fantastic job with Miles Morales. I haven't read the comics yet but this is a Spiderman I can get behind. Well-paced story, and love how the relationships, both family and friendship, are so well fleshed out. Looking forward to reading more of Miles in the future.

Jason Reynolds is king but this was a subpar effort. The writing feels particularly weak considering his achievements. Fans of Miles Morales and Spider Man in general may find something appealing here, but the story is quite plodding considering the material and the supporting characters are quite thin and often stereotypes. Disappointing.

This wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, but it was still a really great read! It might be a bit slow for those mainly interested in the Spider-Man action scenes, as it's 95% Miles Morales dealing with his home and school life. He only puts on his Spidey suit twice, if I'm remembering correctly, and the first time is well over 100 pages in. That's not to say that's a bad thing! Reynolds is obviously interested in the challenges Miles faces being a black student in American schools, and the passion is conveyed well on page. The villain of the book takes overly long to establish itself, but once known is extremely clever -- although the climatic fight scene is a bit strange. So while I enjoyed this one and how it showed a minority superhero dealing with challenges related to race, it did read a bit preachy in certain moments, and I feel like 90% of the content could have been established just as well outside of the Spider-Man setting. I have some mixed feelings here and there, but overall I really enjoyed Reynolds' story and what it had to offer! 4.5/5 stars!

As a YA librarian for NYC teens, I almost couldn't breathe for how well Jason Reynolds portrays teenage life in the city and the day-to-day life-altering decisions teens have to make. Miles is in between 3 worlds: mixed ethnicity Brooklyn boy with parents struggling to make ends meet; smart scholarship student at an expensive private school; and young superhero.

In each of these roles, he must find his way. Each of these roles hold different obstacles for him. Teens will be able to relate to Miles and his friends. Even the obstacles he faces as Spider-Man will resonate with them. In this book, Miles continues to be one of today's most relatable heroes. Recommended for ages 12 and up who enjoy comics, justice, and teens standing up for themselves.

Spider Man, Spider Man, give me some of that Spider Man. For years I hated Spider Man, I thought he was a lame hero. But as I've gotten older and as the films and stories have evolved I've changed my mind. This book adds even more to that. Finally some more Morales storyline and less Parker! Gimmeeeee!

One of the best super-hero books I've read. A not-to-be-missed Jason Reynolds book...aren't they all, though???

Jason Reynolds is a master storyteller and his take on the new Spiderman, Miles Morales is fantastic!

Great choice for a reluctant reader, and I really liked the family aspects of this story.

As much as I loved the idea of this book, personally I thought there wasn't a rightful balance between Miles and Spiderman although, the teen/family drama he experiences will certainly be relatable to younger readers! The story was brilliant at integrating the local ethnicities too!

You know you're getting old when little things that you thought would never change, suddenly change. I grew up with Peter Parker as Spider-Man, but there's a new Spider-Man on the block and it's Miles Morales, a teenager who is half African-American and half Puerto Rican.

Although it isn't explained, I get the sense that this is not a second Spider-Man, but that this is <em>the</em> Spider-Man in a rebooted universe. There are some similarities between Parker and Morales - teen, bright, radio-active spider bite, etc. - but the background heritage of Morales provides for some very different insight into being a superhero from the very white Peter Parker.

Morales, and his best friend Ganke (who knows about Morales' spidey powers), are feeling the pressure from a pretty nasty teacher by the name of Chamberlain. Chamberlain almost goes overboard in his taking his top students down a notch or two. Almost. But Miles' spidey sense gets a little weird when he's around Chamberlain and he (Morales) has been having some very strange dreams and he finally decides to investigate things a little more.

On the non-superhero side of the story, Miles learns that he has a cousin he never knew about. His uncle Aaron and his father were estranged, due to Aaron's shady past, but Miles had a close relationship with his uncle (despite his father's warnings to stay clear of him). When Miles and his father both receive letters from a teen in jail, claiming to be Aaron's son, they are taken by surprise.

This was a really interesting book. It definitely has a bit of a darker tone than what I would expect in a story for middle-schoolers, but I really appreciated this 'minority' teen look at how to deal with super powers as well as school. The plot doesn't show up until half way through the book, though a sub-plot, dealing with typical teen issues (boy-likes-girl) is set up early and the sub-plot does flow into the plot.

There was a lot that I liked about this book, mostly dealing with a minority teen having unique powers. The story itself was a little dull, though I recognized that much of it might appeal to a young student.

But mostly I spent much of the book wondering what the heck was going on and whatever happened to Peter Parker. Perhaps the young reader wouldn't be so attached to an older character, or perhaps those picking up this book already know about this reboot, but given the popularity of the Spiderman movies (with Parker as Spiderman) it would seem to me that some sort of explanation of how/why this new name, new character would be in order. I had to check in with a friend who's a long-time comic reader to get the scoop on what this was all about.

And I was not a fan at all of Morales' best friend Ganke. He came across as selfish and whiny and I couldn't wait to get away from him any time he appeared in the book.

Looking for a good book? <em>Miles Morales: Spider-Man</em> by Jason Reynolds is a new take on the Spider-Man superhero character, targeted toward middle school students but older readers may be confused by the change.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This was great! I'm not too familiar with Miles Morales comics (I don't read a lot of Spider-books period), but this is a perfect starting point for readers who are interested in the character but not sure how to detangle all of Marvel's series. Very fun and #relatable, but since it's Jason Reynolds, there's also some super powerful stuff in there about institutional racism.

See my review on The Hub:

http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2017/10/20/qp2018-nominees-round-3/