Twelve year old Summer absolutely adores sports! She wishes she was good at them like her older brother, Carl. Although she fantasises about leading her team to victory, the truth is that Summer doesn’t have a team. Despite her passion, she’s not good at any sport, so much so that she always seems to be picked last.

All of a sudden, though, Summer is a sporting superstar.

‘How did this happen?’

Well, remember the meteor that changed Amber’s life forever, the one that resulted in her becoming Skydragon? Well, if I’m not mistaken, that very same meteor made an appearance at Rockstone too.

“As Summer walked back to the house, she realised her body felt different, somehow. It was still her body, but it felt more flexible and powerful.”

The variety of effects the purple goop has had on people reminds me of the particle accelerator explosion at STAR Labs. I’m also wondering if there are more superheroes (and villains) in this world that we haven’t been introduced to yet. Summer begins to use her new skillset to become a superhero.

Of course, there’s no point having a superhero if they don’t have an archnemesis. It appears the grumpy librarian who is currently volunteering for this position is the Book Witch. You know she’s pure evil because her nefarious deeds extend to inflicting paper cuts! Now, we may want to boo at the witch because she uses books at weapons but at least she’s doing her part to stop the spread of COVID.

That’s not to say that there isn’t going to be a shadowy government organisation on the Champ’s trail.

Summer has a supportive and adorable best friend, Wilbur. We don’t see much of Wilbur in this book because he’s busy with choir rehearsals but I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s going to be getting some more page time as the series progresses.

There’s a picture of him on the back cover and a sticker (this book has stickers!) showing him wearing a cape so I’m hoping he becomes the Champ’s sidekick. I’m also hoping he has a brilliant sidekick name like Ice cream Boy; the logo on his shirt has a picture of an ice cream cone and a B, and he’s wearing what looks to be an empty Neapolitan ice cream container on his head with cut outs for his eyes. I just know Wilbur is going to be my favourite character.

I’m curious to find out how Carl and Summer support themselves. I’m also wondering whether Summer is going to be sensitive to the impact her new skills are likely to have on her brother, especially considering what the meteor has taken from him.

Thank you so much to Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read this book.