Hero – Perry Moore

Perry Moore is best known for his work as executive producer of The Chronicles of Narnia. Hero is about Thom, a high school basketball star that does not quite fit in: he does not have many friends, his dad is a disgraced superhero, he has his own superpower that he wants to keep secret and, to top it off, he is gay. Since his father does not agree with superpowers or being gay, is forced to lead a double life. He tried to find who he really is, yet had to hide many aspects of himself from his father and peers in order to be accepted. Since Moore is gay himself, many of Thom’s experiences are based in part on things he went through when he was younger and his real life dad was inspiration for the father in the book. Although the plot is mainly fictional and seems to be a teen version of X-men, the struggles that the characters encounter are completely relatable. One article stated that “…gay and lesbian characters are frequently depicted as guilty, ashamed, bitter, desperately unhappy individuals…” (McLean). I agree that gay and lesbian characters need to be portrayed as comfortable with who they are and confident with their sexuality. Unfortunately, being embarrassed and ashamed is a harsh reality for many people today. The novel tells the story of Thom becoming comfortable with who he is and how he overcame his insecurities. All readers, gay or straight, will be able to relate to this book.

While I do find this to be a great piece of diverse literature, there are some things in my research that I do not agree with. This novel is a Lambda Award Winner for Children’s/Young Adult Literature. I feel it is very deserving of the award but age appropriateness is an issue. While the length of the book alone would stop me from placing it on an elementary classroom shelf, some of the content of the book is highly inappropriate for younger children. Students need a higher maturity level to truly appreciate the novel. Some other critiques of the book I also do not completely agree with. One critic stated, “Moore created a world that is painfully homophobic, one that may have been a reality several decades ago, but seems out of place today.” As much as I want this statement to be true, I truly feel that it is not. While I do think that today’s society has become more accepting of the GLBT culture, I strongly feel that we have a long way to go and, unfortunately, much of society is still “homophobic”. Although this is Moore’s first novel, it will not be his last. He is currently working on a sequel to Hero and a big screen version of the book is in the works.