But when Danielle wakes up, she discovers her body’s gone through a mess-free transition. Previous Dreadnoughts grew in height or bulked up in muscle. Along with the powers of flight, super strength and all the other superhero goodies, Dreadnought’s mantle also gifts the inheritor with their ideal body. Unfortunately, Dreadnought’s beyond saving, but in his last moments, he passes the mantle of Dreadnaught onto Danielle. (Red, this week.) During her weekly ritual, she’s caught nearby when a fight breaks out between the famed Dreadnought and the apparent small-time villain Utopia who’s managed to take him out. She skates by with the only form of feminine self-expression she can sneak in: busing to the opposite end of the city and secretly painting her toes behind the mall. It was amazing.ĭanielle is just a trans kid trying to survive long enough to escape home and start hormones when she turns eighteen. I want to melt it down and pour it directly into my brain. – Same with other topics like homophobia and abuseĭreadnought succeeds as both a YA and a superhero novel: it’s engaging, emotional and fun. – Aggressive transphobia may be upsetting (and +1 for Gundam reference: Minovsky Particle!) – Delightful relationships with secondary characters Detailed descriptions of blood, violence and body horror. If Danny can't sort through the confusion of coming out, master her powers, and stop Utopia in time, humanity faces extinction.Published by Diversion Publishing / Diversion Books Imprintĭescriptions of domestic abuse. Dreadnought's murderer-a cyborg named Utopia-still haunts the streets of New Port City, threatening destruction. Between her father's dangerous obsession with curing her girlhood, her best friend suddenly acting like he's entitled to date her, and her fellow superheroes arguing over her place in their ranks, Danny feels like she's in over her head. It should be the happiest time of her life, but Danny's first weeks finally living in a body that fits her are more difficult and complicated than she could have imagined. But before he expired, Dreadnought passed his mantle to her, and those secondhand superpowers transformed Danny's body into what she's always thought it should be. Until Dreadnought fell out of the sky and died right in front of her, Danny was trying to keep people from finding out she's transgender.

Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky Danny Tozer has a problem: she just inherited the powers of Dreadnought, the world's greatest superhero. Dreadnought is the superhero adventure we all need right now. I didn't know how much I needed this brave, thrilling book until it rocked my world.

An action-packed series-starter perfect for fans of The Heroine Complex and Not Your Sidekick.

April daniels author