Secret Identity (Shredderman #1) by Wendelin Van Draanen Date of Publication: ISBN: 0-375-82351-4 Number of Pages: 138

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: Junior: Average Intermediate: Low
GENRES: Realism
THEMES : Coming of Age - Prejudice - Appearance versus Reality - Family

SUMMARY:
Nolan Byrd is a nerd…and he’s more or less proud of it. Unfortunately, being a nerd has its drawbacks, and one of those is the school bully, Bubby Bixby. Bubba spends his days making Nolan’s life miserable, and terrorizing many of the other kids at Nolan’s school as well. No teachers seem to realize what’s going on – not even the cool Mr. Green, Nolan’s neo-hippy homeroom teacher. When Mr. Green assigns an open-ended project about creating a newspaper page on any subject of the students’ choice, Nolan does one better: he sets out to create a webpage on the Internet, spotlighting the evil and nefarious deeds of the bully, Bubba. What Nolan doesn't anticipate is that in his attempt to catch Bubba in the act, he transforms into “Shredderman” (at least in his imagination). Nolan goes from Geek to Chic when he uses his BRAIN to get even! Will anyone discover Shredderman's true identity? Will Shredderman end Bubba's bullying days?

What Nolan discovers as Shredderman isn't at all what he bargained for!

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...
- is bullied
- loves superheroes
- likes contemporary stories
- enjoys rooting for the underdog
- longs for justice to prevail
- is into the Internet, computers, spy cameras, etc.
- likes comics and funny illustrations woven into the text

WHAT ELSE?
This is the first of four books in the Shredderman series, and each continues with Nolan’s attempts to save the day and bring justice to all.

RELATED LINK:
There is also an accompanying website that provides all sorts of other goodies, at www.shredderman.com