Wave Breaker: Skydragon 5

James Hart's Wave Breaker: Skydragon 5 is a superhero adventure for 9 year olds about a girl whose powers all come from insects, heading out to sea where there aren't any.

What happens

It's the fifth Skydragon book, so Amber already has a past. She's been on the run, she's lost her powers and got them back, and agents from the National Service would still very much like to catch her.

For once she's meant to be on holiday. A cancelled flight leaves her and her grown-up friend Irene in a seaside town called Spring Bay. Amber has never seen the beach before!

But something's wrong. Dolphins keep stranding themselves on the sand. A quiet boy called Eden waits every day for the dolphins he used to feed, and he says the waves out at sea are "wrong". One night Amber wakes up knowing something has happened, and she finds dead insects all along the beach.

So she goes out in a little boat with Eden's mum, the lighthouse keeper, to take a look. They end up in handcuffs. A big fishing company owns that bit of sea and doesn't want anyone poking about.

The insect stuff is the best bit. Ants chew through the wires of the police station cameras. Cockroaches drag the release form over and stamp it. Later, beetles tunnel under a stranded whale so the whole town can slide it back into the water. Gross and brilliant at the same time!

Then a strange thrum comes from out at sea, and half of her swarm drops dead mid-air. What's out there?

Amber is easy to like. She's brave and a bit reckless, and she's kind to Eden without making a fuss about it. Irene is lovely too. She waves a flare in each hand on the beach and grumbles that this is not how she pictured her retirement.

There's a second story running alongside. Firefighter, a hero with fire in one hand and water in the other, is travelling in secret trying to get his memories back (and rescuing two puppies on the way).

What to read next

For more superpowers turning up in an ordinary family, try My Brother Is a Superhero next. Luke nips down from the tree house for a wee and misses the exact moment his big brother gets his powers, and he's still very cross about it.