How to Be a Supervillain - by Michael Fry (Paperback)

About the Book

Twelve-year-old Victor Spoil comes from a long line of famous supervillains and he's fully expected to someday join their ranks. But to his family's utter disappointment, Victor doesn't have a single bad-guy bone in his body. Fry's witty text and hysterical artwork combines superhero action with classic fish-out-of-water humor.

Book Synopsis

In this rollicking middle-grade adventure and national bestseller, Michael Fry's witty text and hysterical artwork combines superhero action with classic fish-out-of-water humor.

Victor Spoil comes from a long line of famous supervillains and he's fully expected to join their ranks one day. But to his family's utter disappointment, Victor doesn't have a single bad-guy bone in his body. He won't run with scissors, he always finishes his peas, and he can't stand to be messy. Hopeless!

As a last-ditch effort before they give up and let him be a -- gasp! -- civilian, Victor's exasperated parents send him to apprentice under a disgraced supervillain called The Smear. This matchup starts off as a complete disaster, but Victor and The Smear eventually find that they have a lot to learn from each other. When the stakes get high as Victor is forced to choose between his mentor and his family morals (or lack thereof) . . . what will the world's nicest bad guy do?

Review Quotes

"Being bad at being bad has never been such good fun!"--Chris Grabenstein, NYT Bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

"Fry has written a hilarious story about an unlikely hero and masterfully incorporates the illustrations into the narrative. Victor's story is sure to be a hit among reluctant readers and fans of illustrated novels."
--Booklist

"In this clever world, Over the Hedge comic-strip author Fry achieves an ideal balance of humor, poignancy, and zippy superhero/bad guy action, punctuated with frequent amusing black and white illustrations."--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Part novel, part comic, Michael Fry's humor shines in Victor Spoil's journey to discovering his true self!"--Dan Santat, Caldecott-medal-winning author of The Adventures of Beekle and illustrator of the Mighty Robot series with Dav Pilkey

"The irreverent humor that middle graders relish will go a long way to capturing their interest. Superhero fans will enjoy this tongue-in-cheek take on the genre."--School Library Journal

"This riotous story about heroes and villains will leave kids howling for more!"--Lincoln Peirce, New York Times bestselling author of the BIG NATE series

Praise for How to Be a Supervillain:
A National Bestseller!An IndieBound Bestseller!A Parents' Choice Award(R) Winner!

About the Author

Michael Fry has been a cartoonist for over 30 years and is the co-creator and writer of the Over the Hedge comic strip, which was turned into a Dreamworks film starring Bruce Willis and William Shatner. He lives near Austin, TX.