By Jennifer Muro, Thomas Krajewski
A thirteen-year-old in foster care finds a case of body paints, and every color turns out to be a different superpower.
Ashley Rayburn is thirteen and has been moved from foster home to foster home since her father went to prison. Now she's landed somewhere that might actually stick, with foster parents who seem to want her and a best friend at school. Then she finds a case of body paints hidden in the house. Each color, painted on her skin, gives her a different power: one lets her fly, one makes her strong, one turns her invisible. The paints were built by the government and the government wants them back, which means the safest thing Ashley has ever had is now the thing most likely to take it all away from her.
Ashley is the rare superhero whose real problem isn't the villain. It's whether she gets to stay. She's funny and bright and a bit of a handful, and she spends the book terrified that the moment she causes trouble, this family will send her back like the others did. So when she puts the paints on, your child is watching a girl who wants to be a hero and cannot afford to be one. The art is warm and bouncy, the powers are a great idea, and it's a complete story between two covers, which is unusual for a superhero book.