Noah Minor may have learned how to use his amazing superpowers, but controlling them is another thing. And when his evil great uncle shows up, Noah’s endangered friends need him to figure things out. Pronto!
Noah Minor may have learned how to use his amazing superpowers, but controlling them is another thing. And when his evil great uncle shows up, Noah’s endangered friends need him to figure things out. Pronto!
Did you know that there’s a secret agency that uses people with special abilities to “protect and defend all that is true, good and beautiful”?
Yeah, neither did Noah Minor.
But then again, he also didn’t know that Great Uncle Saul used to be a part of that group, too. Nor did he realize that he had genetic access to said “special abilities” himself.
Noah simply thought he was an average nobody seventh grader. I mean, he imagined being a hero with flexing muscles and a cape. Who doesn’t? But to actually move stuff with his mind or invisibly push and pull things like they were attached to an imaginary cosmic string?! Well, that was more like comic book stuff than real life.
So, when this organization called Gravitas approached Noah and revealed that his long-time friend Haley was already a trainee, he was flabbergasted. And excited, too, of course. ‘Cause it turns out, Noah has a pretty deep well of this … power. Or whatever it is.
However, there are two problems. First, Noah’s control of his abilities is as sketchy as a low-rent politician. And, second, his great uncle is, like, a supervillain. Both of those things are a pretty big deal from Gravitas’ perspective.
The only way Noah has figured out how to handle the first problem in through his angry emotions. When his temper flares, the circuits in his brain click together, and he can throw things three times his weight. It’s sort like the Hulk: When Noah gets angry, he gets stronger.
Oh, and the second problem? Well, Great Uncle Saul is a great source of fuel for Noah’s rage. Saul has broken laws, caused chaos, hurt Noah and his family. I mean, he almost killed Haley. At just the mention of the man’s name, Noah flares and flexes his mental muscles in powerful ways.
Those powerful flares, though, can also cause Noah to break things. He might even hurt people himself! And that, of course, flies in the face of everything Gravitas stands for.
Who knows, maybe that’s all exactly what Great Uncle Saul wants. Maybe he longs for Noah to hurt others and leave Gravitas. Maybe he’s planning all sorts of terrible things.
But Noah knows one thing for sure: He will protect and defend the people he loves, no matter what it takes.
And neither Uncle Saul nor the Hulk himself will stop him!
There’s nothing specifically faith-focused in the story. But The Minor Rescue definitely encourages young readers to care for and protect others, to choose friendship, love and kindness.
None.
We don’t see much of Noah’s parents. They aren’t aware of their son’s Gravitas connections. But they do appear to be loving parents who give young Noah their support.
Adult members of Gravitas all tend to be rather militaristically focused on the chain of command. They certainly take care to protect the young Gravitas trainees from danger. But, other than Haley’s dad, emotional warmth isn’t a forte of the Gravitas agents.
Noah’s friend Rodney spends time with his estranged father, who deserted his family to pursue a music career. At first, Rodney is angry and distant. But in time, the two reconnect and make peace with their past. Dad makes an effort to show his son his love and to ask for forgiveness.
Both Noah’s grandmother and Great Uncle Saul turn out to be less than consistent in the young man’s life. His grandmother voices her love for Noah and her family, but she is hard-edged and duplicitous at times. Saul kidnaps children, and he purposely puts several kids (and adult) in jeopardy to shield himself. (Everyone lives through some potentially deadly situations.)
Despite Noah’s own stumbling choices and failings in the story, he still recognizes when his buds Haley and Rodney are hurting. He observes subtle changes in their behavior and consistently tries to encourage them. And when things get dangerous, Noah throws his own safety to the wind to protect those he cares about.
They, in turn, help encourage Noah step back from his own dangerous behaviors. And both friends display their love and help Noah learn how to keep his rage in check. They also help Noah find ways of dealing with problems without the destructive aspects of his angry tendences.
Even those whom Noah originally saw as competitors—such as fellow Gravitas trainees Dawson and Olivia—eventually become friends Noah can rely on. Together they work to improve their skillsets and work toward goals. And the story tells us, “We’re all connected, and that’s what makes us powerful! That’s what makes a hero.”
As the book begins, Haley is just coming off a nearly deadly encounter (that happened at the end of the first book), and she’s dealing with an emotional wound that plagues her physically and mentally.
We also read about some people being thumped around, such as people being pushed into walls, having large containers of material dumped on them, being hit by snapping-back tree branches and having their arms twisted behind them. One or two of these moments cause light cuts or bruises.
Elsewhere, the story feels more intense. Haley, for instance, hits her head on a table, which gives her a bloody cut above her eye and results in a black eye. Rodney gets thrown over the railing of a 1,200-foot drop, and Haley tumbles forward to hang precariously from that same railing. A man is pushed off the top of the Empire State Building (though he’s rescued below by a Gravitas agent.)
Some 26 middle-schoolers are kidnapped and held hostage in less-than-ideal circumstances. These kids are threatened by explosives planted in the building’s roof. And the lives of both Haley and Rodney are threatened if Noah doesn’t “behave” and do as he’s told.
Two people are forcibly drugged and knocked unconscious.
Several middle-schoolers have opposite-sex crushes or attraction to one another. And Rodney repeatedly teases Noah and Haley about becoming a couple and kissing, though they both balk at that suggestion. Friendship is this story’s modus operandi.
What would you most want to do if you found out you had special powers?
Are there ways you could help someone else in your life—even without super powers? Do you think that kind of thing is important? What do you think about that Spider-Man quote: “With great power comes great responsibility”? Do we really have a responsibility to others?
If that’s true, what if we don’t have special powers? Do we still carry responsibilities to others? How do we show that to our friends, our family, and even those we don’t know all that well?
What do you think God’s opinion is of us getting angry?
Take a look at James 1:19-20 and Ecclesiastes 7:9. How do those passages of Scripture apply to your life? Are there any lessons you can learn from Noah’s struggles with his anger?
Like the first book in the Amazing Adventures of Noah Minor series, this sequel focuses on a middle-schooler who must figure out how to become the person (friend, teammate, hero) he longs to be. The story encourages young readers to turn away from anger and to focus on the positive aspects of friendship and teamwork.
There are some thumping, violent situations in this story mix, but The Minor Rescue is fun and kid-friendly.
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Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
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