Study Hall of Justice (DC Comics: Secret Hero Society #1)
Study Hall of Justice (DC Comics: Secret Hero Society #1) book cover

Study Hall of Justice (DC Comics: Secret Hero Society #1)

Hardcover – January 26, 2016

by
Price
$8.02
Format
Hardcover
Pages
176
Publisher
Scholastic Inc.
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0545825016
Dimensions
5.75 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
Weight
11.2 ounces

Description

From School Library Journal Gr 3–5—Aspiring young detective Bruce Wayne has been recruited for Ducard Academy and soon realizes that something fishy is going on. His fellow classmates are a bunch of clowns and bullies who have no desire to better their formal education; they are more interested in petty crimes and world domination. Luckily, Bruce finds two classmates who similarly are not fitting in at the Academy. Clark is a strange boy from a farm in Smallville. Diana Prince comes from a small exotic island on the other side of the world. If the three of them can work together, they might be able to figure out who is really running Ducard Academy and why the curriculum is so bizarre. They just have to watch out for the school's vigilant central computer system/librarian and the ninjas who always seem to be in the shadows. This graphic novel hybrid will likely find an engaged audience with young Marvel superhero fans who, perhaps, are not quite ready for more involved comics. Die-hard fans, however, will have trouble reconciling this alternate history with the traditional backstories of the famous grown-up superheroes they have come to know. Reluctant readers will appreciate the spare text, graphic novel panels, and varied ephemera including chat scripts, school evaluation reports, maps, and emails. Though jam-packed with visual and text elements, the story is easy to follow. VERDICT A supplemental purchase for collections in need of high-interest hybrid format titles.—Carol Hirsche, Barnett Elementary, Payson, UT Derek Fridolfs is a New York Times bestselling author. With Dustin Nguyen, he cowrote the Eisner-nominated Batman: Li'l Gotham . He's also written and worked on such comics series as Batman: Arkham City Endgame with Paul Dini, Detective Comics, Legends of the Dark Knight, Adventures of Superman, Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Zatanna, JLA, Justice League Beyond, and comics based on the cartoons for Adventure Time , Regular Show , Clarence , Pig Goat Banana Cricket , Dexter's Laboratory , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , Teen Titans Go , Looney Tunes , and Scooby-Doo Where Are You ! He's written several chapter books for Capstone based on the Justice League. Dustin Nguyen is a New York Times bestselling and Eisner Award-winning American comics creator. His body of work includes Batman: Li'l Gotham , which he cocreated, and numerous DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and Boom! titles along with DC Comics Secret Hero Society and Image Comics' Descende r and Ascender , both of which he cocreated. He lives in California with his wife, Nicole; their two kids, Bradley and Kaeli; and dog, Max. His first children's picture book, titled W hat Is It? , was written by his wife (at the age of 10) and is their first collaboration together. He enjoys sleeping and driving.

Features & Highlights

  • The team behind DC Comics LIL' GOTHAM takes readers to the halls of Ducard Academy in Gotham City, where a young Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman start their very own Junior Detective Agency!
  • Young Bruce Wayne is the new kid at Ducard Academy, a prep school for gifted middle school students. Bruce finds out pretty quickly that he doesn't fit in: the faculty seems to not just encourage villainous behavior from its students, but reward it. He makes friends with two other outsiders, farm boy Clark Kent and the regal Diana Prince. The three band together to form a detective squad to find out why all of these extraordinary kids have been brought together at Ducard Academy, and to see just what the faculty is plotting. An all-new series from the Eisner-nominated team behind Batman Lil' Gotham (Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs), Secret Hero Society uses comics, journal entries, and doodles to reimagine Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman as three students in the same school. They'll try their best to solve their case, but just because you're faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, or an Amazonian princess, it doesn't mean you get to stay up past eleven.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(244)
★★★★
25%
(102)
★★★
15%
(61)
★★
7%
(28)
★
-7%
(-29)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

4th-grade boy LOVES this book!

My ten-year-old son is crazy about this book. He loves anything to do with superheroes, whether books or toys, and this book is a good fit for his age and grade in school. It's a thick book, 176 pages, but it is not a normal chapter book. The pages are a sequence of graphic novel (comics) layout, text messages between characters, newspaper ads, memos, notes, weather reports, student evaluation reports, journal entries, notes, posters, etc. You read through everything and it tells the story.

The story is based on three superheroes who are kids: Batman (Bruce), Superman (Clark), and Wonder Woman (Diana). They notice something fishy going on at their private school (Ducard Academy), and they work together to solve the case. When Bruce starts school (he is the new kid), some of the things Alfred tells him to take to school are infrared and night vision goggles, military-grade stealth suit with grappling hook, portable chem lab, computer with advanced facial recognition software, and pudding cups (chocolate peanut butter). The high-tech stuff is mixed with kid-style humor.

Any young reader who likes superheroes, detectives, spies, or secret societies will love the concept of the book. The low-text, high-graphics ratio of the pages will appeal to reluctant readers but won't seem "below level" to more advanced readers--a hard combo to achieve! Flipping through the book, I don't think that it ever specifies exactly how old the three kids are, or what grade they're in, so this is helpful in appealing to a range of ages of readers--each reader can assume that the characters are his/her own age.

We can't wait for book #2 in the series!
15 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

4th-grade boy LOVES this book!

My ten-year-old son is crazy about this book. He loves anything to do with superheroes, whether books or toys, and this book is a good fit for his age and grade in school. It's a thick book, 176 pages, but it is not a normal chapter book. The pages are a sequence of graphic novel (comics) layout, text messages between characters, newspaper ads, memos, notes, weather reports, student evaluation reports, journal entries, notes, posters, etc. You read through everything and it tells the story.

The story is based on three superheroes who are kids: Batman (Bruce), Superman (Clark), and Wonder Woman (Diana). They notice something fishy going on at their private school (Ducard Academy), and they work together to solve the case. When Bruce starts school (he is the new kid), some of the things Alfred tells him to take to school are infrared and night vision goggles, military-grade stealth suit with grappling hook, portable chem lab, computer with advanced facial recognition software, and pudding cups (chocolate peanut butter). The high-tech stuff is mixed with kid-style humor.

Any young reader who likes superheroes, detectives, spies, or secret societies will love the concept of the book. The low-text, high-graphics ratio of the pages will appeal to reluctant readers but won't seem "below level" to more advanced readers--a hard combo to achieve! Flipping through the book, I don't think that it ever specifies exactly how old the three kids are, or what grade they're in, so this is helpful in appealing to a range of ages of readers--each reader can assume that the characters are his/her own age.

We can't wait for book #2 in the series!
15 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

My son couldn't put the book down.

So like most parents I struggle to get my son to read more. He would rather watch TV or play video games. I can relate because I was the same way. I took notice to what games he has been playing and what games he has been playing. Most if not all of them have to do with comic book heroes. So I figured that I would take a chance and buy a book that has his favorite characters in the story. To say that I was pleased with the results would be an under statement. He started the book on a Saturday morning and he was done the entire book around lunch time. I asked him how it was and he said it was great and then proceeded to tell me in detail most parts of the book. So if your kid is in to comic book heroes I would recommend that you give this book a try.
11 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A Great New Series!

A fun book for young readers. If you've new to DC Comic characters or a long time fan you will enjoy the adventures of Bruce, Clark and Diana as well as their alter egos. The story consists of very little prose, but is actually made up journal entries, chat messages, flyers and any number of other graphics. Well put together!
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Study Hall of Justice.

Bought this book for my nephew, but as a librarian, the story premise & format makes a child want to read. This book is fun & the beginning of superheroes coming together as middle school students. This book will make your child want to read more books & this series.
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Playground Heroes

An all-ages romp through the middle school version of the DC Universe. This book definitely takes cues from the Jedi Academy and Origami Yoda series, but commits much more fully to the graphic novel format.

I fun read for late elementary to early middle school readers with a relative basket of Easter eggs for older DC fans. I've missed L'il Gotham, and I can't wait for Dustin's and Derek's next volume of this delightful, new series.
5 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

I wish

I love the cover art. Love the story within. But my middle schoolers just won’t pick it up because of the missing color within. It’s black-and-white pictures inside and with nowadays color for graphic novels out there they are not interested in black-and-white. It’s quite a disservice to the author.
4 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Reluctant readers will love this book!

Summary: Young Bruce Wayne is looking forward to starting school at the prestigious Ducard Academy, but right from the first day, everyone seems incredibly mean, even the teachers. He does manage to befriend two kids who are having similar struggles, a boy named Clark Kent and a girl named Diana Prince. Together, they try to investigate the dark secrets of their new school and who is behind them. The story is told through comics, letters, journal entries, school forms, and texts. With the school mystery solved by the end, Bruce’s mention of an upcoming camp visit hints at a sequel. 176 pages; ages 8-12.

Pros: Reluctant readers will flock to this book about the young Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The variety of formats (graphic novel, letters, texts, etc.) makes it an interesting and fast-paced read.

Cons: The story was a little more complex than I was expecting, and the different types of text could make it a bit confusing.
4 people found this helpful
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Good read!

Decided to buy as a bday gift. 8 year old.

Before giving it I decided to read /cause I like DC lmao//

So there is a chapter that's on Halloween day and honestly the kids family is religious so that was a no go

But I gave it to another kid. The cover looks nice and it's like solving cases at school. Nice art style.
3 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Great series

My 9 year old loves all these books. I am trying to get him to read more and he reads these books in less than a week. He gets so excited when a new book comes out.
3 people found this helpful

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