The elusive world of spies meets superhero adventure with excitement, heart, and the difficult question of who can really be trusted.

Noah's only had one amazing moment in his life; he survived falling sixteen stories and hitting the ground as a baby. Since then, his life has been more than average. His two best friends add the only excitement to his life, one being a talented trombone player and the other almost perfect in everything. When a usual vision test suddenly has him pulled into a secret room and told he has the power to manipulate gravity, everything changes. Not only is he sucked into the CIA group, Gravitas, for training, but he's immediately given a tiny mission. His great-uncle is a wanted fugitive with superpowers, too, and Noah needs to inform the CIA when his uncle reaches out to him. But things aren't that black and white, especially when Noah learns that his uncle is the only one who knows how powerful Noah really is and is the only one who can help him reach his full potential.

Noah is an easy character to connect with. He starts as an average kid with average problems, nothing over-the-top but normal, day-to-day issues middle graders often face. The relationship to his family is good but not perfect, and his friends have his back, although even that isn't without its ups and downs. When his superpowers hit, his attitude is understandable, for the most part, and makes him easy to root for. He might be over-powered, but this brings its own set of problems...many of which add humorous moments.

Action mixes with humor, while the hurdles offer depth and add heart. Noah has a lot to learn, especially in the superpower realm. This comes with errors and frustration, especially since it rubs against a bit of jealousy he's been harboring. The area of friend and family relations holds the center of the read as these are tested and prodded in unexpected ways. But then, saving the world, no matter how small the part in the mission might first seem, tends to be an adventurous undertaking with difficult and dangerous surprises.

It's an easy, quick read, which flows well. There are a few hiccups in the logic, but nothing which bothers the stories fun and messages. It's a fun adventure for superhero fans or those, who just enjoy an action-packed adventure.

The Minor Miracle was a fun book for kids. It was an interesting story. Grabbed my attention right away. I feel as if this will be a great series for middle school kids. The characters are interesting. The plot keeps you on your toes. You're not always sure who is good and who isn't. It's a good story.

I really enjoyed how we saw everything through the eyes of this special young man who didn't realize that he had special abilities. It also has some neat twists and turns. Once I got to a certain point I could see a bit of where it was going and who was the good guys and bad guys. It did take me a bit though. It kind of leaves you asking a few questions about a couple characters so I hope this will be a series. I would like to find out more in the future.

The illustrations are good. What I would expect for a middle school book. Some of the characters are not what I see in my head when I read about them but that is the beauty of books. We all can imagine the characters how we think they look. I would recommend this book to mom's of kids who enjoy super hero stories.

Gravitas is a great term for the secret organization in The Minor Miracle that Noah Minor, age 12, discovers he is part of. These superheroes can control gravity, and Noah must train hard to develop his skills. (They include “slug,” “pull,” and “heavy pull,” somewhat difficult for me to understand and find differences among.)

Of course, Noah also has his “other” life as a seventh-grader with the almost obligatory two best friends, Haley and Rodney. Haley is the stereotypical female with superior intelligence and organizational skills, while Rodney is also a true friend and also a source of some comic relief.

Disappointing, to me as an adult, that these tropes were used, including Rodney being a black kid who is #3 in character priority. Twelve-year-olds may not consciously recognize these things, but that’s the problem, isn’t it?

Bobby Yong created the illustrations throughout, and I don’t know whether their retro simplicity will enhance or detract from the target audience.

I want to make clear that there were many positive and entertaining features of Meredith Davis’ book. Noah doesn’t easily become adept at gravity control; he must work industriously over time. In addition, soon into the book he is faced with a true emotional dilemma, something that would be tough for a pre-teen.

His great-uncle tells him Gravitas is holding him back and that the two of them should partner up. Noah hasn’t seen his great-uncle in years, yet naturally feels a familial tug in his direction. Whether he is right or wrong creates excellet suspense.

I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook via NetGalley. This is an honest review.

Book 1 in a new series about Noah Minor, a 7th grader who suddenly realizes he has a superpower that makes the fact of his surviving a 16 story fall as a baby make sense. He is then recruited to work for Gravitas, a secret agency with members who can manipulate gravity and most surprising to Noah is that one of his best friends is already a member. When Noah’s Great-Uncle Saul, who has been running from Gravitas for years, shows up to ask him to use his powers, Noah has to make some important decisions regarding to whom he should be loyal. Will look forward to seeing what new missions he may be a part of in the next book.

As a baby, Noah Minor miraculously - and mysteriously - survived a fall from a sixteen-story balcony. Now, he's a seventh-grader with two best friends and hopes to join the basketball team. But when he's recruited for Gravitas, a top-secret government agency, he feels shocked, manipulated and uncertain. He doesn't know who to trust. The truth is further muddled when he questions if he will every gain the necessary skills to succeed as a secret agent and if he should trust his Uncle Saul or Gravitas. And who stole his best friend's music knowledge? Noah has to make some decisions as he finds his way in his new life.
I enjoyed the story. It's action-packed, and the flow kept my attention. I also liked the friendship between Noah, Haley and Rodney - they're loyal, kind and communicate.
The Gravitas skills of pull, heavy pull, slug, etc. were confusing and a little too sci-fi for my tastes, but I'm sure other readers will enjoy that aspect of the book.
I hope the author writes more stories in this series!

This is a tricky book to review as an adult and I definitely need to put my 10-year-old head on to do it justice. As an adult, the superhero and villain tropes were a little predictable, but that's only because I've watched so many superhero films.

Children, however, won't be reading this book with this extensive experience and I think they'll really enjoy this book!

The writing style is really easy to read, which will attract even the more hesitant of readers. The characters are really well written and Noah's ability is one I've not seen before. The superhero training program parts were well thought through, too and it was good that Noah had to put the effort in to really get to grips with his power. Children will enjoy the prospect of a regular boy discovering he has superpowers and the story is fast paced with a gripping finish, so that ticks lots of boxes too.

I love a good super hero story. This had some fun unique twists to it. I enjoyed it and will be recommending it.

Review to come April/May closer to the release day on my blog/goodreads/etc..

I received this book from Netgalley/publisher in exchange of an honest review.

When I saw this book on Netgalley... well, I just had to click that request button. Superpowers? Evil/Good organisations? Friendship? Illustrations? Yes! Yes, please! 

Noah was such a fun character and I liked him pretty much from the beginning. With The Cling (in which his clothes will get stuck to him), with seeing him master his powers (and find a way to find that thread and pull it towards him), to seeing him decide who to trust and who not, to basketball and I loved that he was sporty as it at times didn't seem like he was. Plus, I could definitely understand why he was acting up at times, I mean, what would you do if you find out that your uncle may or may not be the villain and that an organisation has been keeping tracks of you and oh yes, hi, you have powers. I would also be like what?. I did like how he grew in the story. Not just with his powers, but also in confidence, finding ways to trust people, and more. 

I am still not entirely sold on Haley, in the later parts I liked her more and more, but in the earlier parts? I found her a bit annoying with how she was able to do everything in ease, how she was scheduling not just HER activities but also Noah's, how she seemed really stuck in her ways of doing things and not being a bit flexible. I didn't trust her either, just like Noah was not trusting her. Again, later on she did get more on my like list and I loved her helping out Noah. 

Rodney, oh boy, that boy was a firecracker. He made me laugh so much with his trumpet and his constant playing. OK, I think if I was in the book universe and heard it myself I may have another opinion, but since the book is silent I can enjoy it. Haha. I really loved how good of a friend he was to Noah and how he was there for him. 

Saul was also an interesting character. I was definitely on the fence for a while if he was a good guy or a bad guy. He definitely had that mad scientist/evil vibe, but is he really that or is that just coloured by what we learn of the organisation + what happened when Noah was a baby? 

I loved that there are people in this world with powers, I would call them superpowers, that there are peeps who can control gravity in one way or another. I would definitely love to have those as well! 

The ending was a ride! WOW. So much action and excitement and I just loved every bit of it. 

But the organisation? Well, I could imagine that Noah would just talk to his uncle or rebel a bit or have serious doubts. Given what he learns about things + how they treat his powers, yeah, I would also have rebelled if I was a 10-12 year old kid and felt like I wasn't taken seriously. I would have liked them to be a bit kinder to Noah. I get that they were doing things for a reason, but I am sure that you could have done things a tad different. 

The illustrations were a delight, I love the style and it made me smile.