Mask (The League of Secret Heroes, #2) by Kate Hannigan

Mask (The League of Secret Heroes, #2) Reviews

• 
  Darla

  "Extraordinary amid the ordinary."
  
  I really love this series. Three young girls transform into caped crusaders. They are able to fly, teleport, and each has their own special powers. Akiko can shape shift, Mae talks to animals, and Josie wields her telekenesis. The "infinity trinity" is also learning to intercept coded messages and decode them. The ultimate goal: bring back all the super heroes who have lost their capes and powers due to WW II action. How appropriate that "Mask" should release in this time of pandemic and masking of the public. Looking forward to the third and possibly final installment when the three travel to Paris and the Eiffel Tower.
  
  Thank you to Aladdin and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Alex Baugh

  I was really excited to read Cape, book 1 of The League of Secret Heroes trilogy, so I was really looking forward to reading book 2. And Mask does not disappoint. Set during WWII, which happens to be the golden age of comic books, the League of Secret Heroes is part comic book, but mostly novel, and consists of Josie O'Mally (Cape), a white Irish American girl from New York City, Akiko Nakano (Mask), a Japanese American girl from San Francisco, and Mae Crumpler (Boots), an African American girl from Chicago. When the three of them meet, they discover that together their individual superpowers can be released. And it's a good thing because all their comic book superheroes like Zenobia and Hauntima are either gone or merely ghosts of their former selves and losing their powers quickly.
  After defeating the Hissler in Philadelphia, a Hitler follower who was trying to get coding secrets, the three girls a/k/a the Infinity Trinity have teleported themselves to San Francisco. This used to be Akiko's home until President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 for the roundup of all persons of Japanese ancestry who were then transported to internment camps. This included Akiko's family, who were sent to the Manzanar, where they still are. Except for her brother who is serving in the Japanese American 422nd Infantry Regiment and her mother who is missing.
  
  But our superheroes no sooner arrive in San Francisco, then they receive a coded message and head to San Francisco Bay, were the navy has docked several ships, to try to decipher it. Then, just as Akiko thinks she's spotted her mother walking with a suspected spy in the crowd, a parade of bagpipers go by, and she loses her. The parade is followed by a giant blimp flying overhead, navigated by Side-Splitter, and dropping bomb balloons. Suddenly, there are a lot of clowns, all dressed alike, swarming the waterfront, ready to do Side-Splitter's bidding. And Side-Splitter knows just who the Infinity Trinity is. After a battle between them on the waterfront, the girls finally head to the new League of Secret Heroes headquarters, thinking Mrs. B had been the one to leave the coded not for them.
  
  It turns out that two crack cryptologists, Genevieve Grotjan and Elizabeth Friedman, had left the note, hoping for the Infinity Trinity's help decoding some messages they were sure was a business owner sending secret codes to the enemy. Between Akiko's missing mother, the balloon bombing Side-Splitter and his minions of devoted clowns, and now decoding a spies messages, Josie, Akiko, and Mae have a lot to work on. If only their favorite superheroes were able to help.
  
  Mask is every bit as exciting as Cape. Hannigan has managed to blend fantasy and reality in such a way that the adventure never stops nor does the suspense. And just as she had in Cape, she's brought in a number of historical figures (Elizabeth and Genevieve and Noor Inayat Khan, and Velvalee Dickinson) and believably blended them into the story - but never loses the comic book feeling that is so much a part of this series.
  
  But at the same time that the Infinity Trinity, Side-Splitter, (and the Hissler from the first book) are perfect comic book characters, there is a lot of history to be found woven throughout the adventure. America's internment camps, the racism directed a Japanese Americans, the magnitude of what they lost when Executive Order 9066 went into effect, the 422nd infantry Regiment are all a part of Akiko's story. The idea for the bomb balloons may sound far fetched but they also stem from reality. How? Read the Author's Note to find out about this and other interesting facts that have been worked into the story.
  
  This is a second book in a series and there is always the question of whether book 2 will stand alone. I found that whenever the story referred back to the first book, there was enough background information that if you haven't read it, you wouldn't get lost.
  
  If you are looking for a fun work of historical fiction, Mask (and Cape) are sure to please.
  
  This book is recommended for readers age 9+
  This book was an eARC gratefully received from NetGalley
  
• 
  Alley W.

  This book is packed with adventure, suspense and fighting injustice. The story gives the reader a brief history lesson into how Japanese Americans were treated during order 9066 which was put into place after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although the subject matter is hard to believe because it is true, this story opens up many opportunities to discuss this period in history. Not everything in this book is serious, our three masked heroines have a thrilling adventure full of plenty of fun and adventure. Learning the lesson that everything is not as it seems.
• 
  Anita

  Who says girls don't like comic books?!
  
  These were fantastic explorations of comic book inspired tween super-powered girls in WWII who work with the world's first computer programmers, known as the ENIAC Six, and the women who wrote the algorithms for our troops on the ground, fighting Nazis and fascists.
  
  Each book features four sections of several pages of comic-book art and text that both illustrate and further the plot. It's a sure-fire way to engage and hold onto reluctant readers or just readers who still need or enjoy a visual element as they read. The art, by Patrick Spaziante, even caught my husband's attention, and he's a hard-core Marvel/ DC reader!.
  
  The story's pretty simple: super heroes have vanished from America, right when we need them the most -- WWII. No one knows why. Just...they're gone, and apparently not coming back.
  
  Enter 12-year-old Josephine O'Malley, who's doing her "part" for the war effort by busing tables at a local diner. She knows it's important, but it sure doesn't feel heroic. There's a cypher contest and it's a few days before the last day of school. Despite what the boy bullies in the neighborhood say, she's determined to try out, maybe make more money to help pay her mom's rent.
  
  At the test, Josie meets Akiko Nakano, whose family is being kept in a Japanese internment camp, and Mae Eugenia Crumpler, of Chicago, who's Black. But the test administrator, a man named "Hissler" dumps all the girls' exams into the garbage. (You know where this is headed, right? Hiss-ler? Hitler, but with scales? What a snake!)
  
  He's caught in the act, and Ms. Boudica, one of the women programmers, catches him and invites the girls to see what the programmers do, although they don't get to see what's going on in the mysterious, top-secret Room 12. She bears a striking resemblance to a "missing" super hero.
  
  The girls scheme their way back into the building, determined to figure out what the women in Room 12 are doing (and it's better than being in school on the last day, when you do absolutely nothing, right?) at the exact same moment there's a confrontation between Hissler and The Stretcher, one of the last remaining legendary superheros. The Stretcher erupts in a flash of white light, leaving behind only his cape, mask and boots (Hint: Look at the titles!), which the girls pick up and put on.
  
  Each book then features their adventures against the various villains: the Hissler and an evil clown named Side-Splitter. Shudder. Clowns really are scary.
  
  I won't spoil how the girls learn to master their powers and save the day.
  
  Just know Mask ends on a cliff-hangar, and I'm eagerly awaiting (like any good comic book fan!) the next book, which I'm assuming will be Boots!
  
  Enjoy the read!
  
  Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
  
  Visit my blog for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips:
  https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
  
• 
  Rachel Buckley

  Another case of Kate Hannigan disappointing me.
  
  This story really should have been told from Akiko's point of view since she was the character with a story to tell this time around. Even before I started this one, I figured since there were three books in this series and three heroes in the Infinity Trinity, each character would get their own book to truly develop their character. However, Josie is an author self-insert, and I don't know if Hannigan is just selfish and consistently wants the spotlight on herself or if Josie is just the easiest character to write, but Josie being the focus again really did not work for me. It felt like I was missing the chance to truly get to know Akiko and learn more about her thoughts, feelings, and motivations like I got to with Josie in Cape .
  
  Not to get too spoilery, but this book also focused on teaching our characters how to survive without their powers. They were supposed to learn how to fend for themselves with or without their costumes, and when the time came for them to show what they have learned...they ended up finding a powerful object in Akiko's bag and using that instead, completely disregarding what Khan spent an entire comic strip teaching them. It made me feel like our characters didn't learn anything this time around, and it felt very repetitive compared to Cape since they were continuing to learn how to use their powers and discover new abilities they didn't know they had.
  
  On another repetitive note, the plot twist in this story was exactly the same as the one in Cape , and that made me way more mad than it should have. I know it was technically a different angle since the person in question was a woman instead of a man which introduced a "women are capable of anything men are" message, but I was extremely let down.
  
  This was still a cute idea, and it was a super quick and fun read. I am not the target audience, so a younger demographic will definitely appreciate this more than I did. I'm too far in to back out, so I'll be reading Boots too. Fingers crossed at least one book in this series meets my expectations.
• 
  Mandy

  Middle grade alternative historical fiction. This book takes us back to the WWII era and the newly formed "Infinity Trinity" of young female superheroes (see
  Cape, this is the second book in a series and wouldn't fully make sense on its own). Akiko teleports the group to San Francisco, where she shows and tells the impact of the Japanese internment camps on her family and neighborhood. They find the relocated headquarters and get up to speed on the latest threats: a woman referred to as the "Doll Lady" who is writing letters containing military secrets, and the Side-Splitter-- an evil clown with an army of performers around the city ready to do his bidding. As the girls join the battle, they crack codes in radio transmissions, discover new superpowers, and also discover the real superheroes working behind the scenes.
  
  Real history in this book is extensive, including: Japanese balloon bombs, internment camps, the Doll Lady spy case, female cryptographers, and the importance of radio transmissions. It is mixed in with superheroes, villains, and superpowers such as telekinesis, teleportation, and controlling the weather. It all adds up to a lot of information and a lot of fun. I look forward to book 3!
  
  Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read a digital advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
• 
  Jaymie

  [I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
  
  Good sequel to the first book in the series, Cape. I love several things about this series. First, there are a few sections in each book that are told in comics panels, like you would expect in a superhero comic. I didn't see the final art on those sections for this book, but I liked what they did with book one. Second, there's a great female empowerment thread to the series, both with the girls who are the heroes as well as the women who are mentoring them. Third, there are tons of true historical pieces woven into this alternate WWII history. The notes in the back matter are always terrific. The author includes real women and their real contributions to the war effort in the 1940s, which I love. And fourth, I love superhero stories.
  
  I struggled with the pacing of this one. While the girls have a few battles with the villains, they also have several scenes where they are sitting and listening and solving codes and secret messages. There's not a lot of action there, and the middle dragged for me at times. This may also be the plight of a second book in a (likely) trilogy. There are still major plot factors to be dealt with in book 3, and this is a transition to get from the introduction of book 1 to the resolution of book 3.
  
  There's TONS here for readers to enjoy. I feel like the books in this series need to be read in order, so if you haven't read book 1, Cape, be sure to check it out and then pick up Mask as well.
• 
  Annie Dee Reads Romance

  The second book in the League of Secret Heroes series, Mask, does not disappoint. The series, set in the midst of World War II, describes the origin and evolution of the Infinity Trinity - three girls who find themselves suddenly fighting crime beside some of their biggest superhero idols. With chapters in both prose and graphic novel format, this book moves quickly.
  
  While the first book, Cape, took place on the Eastern side of the U.S., the setting for this novel is the western coast of the country, specifically San Francisco, California. Although still told from Josie's point of view, the main focus of this story of Akiko, a Japanese-American whose family has been placed in an internment camp. While she is giving her friends the tour her old neighborhood in SF, the girls discover a new villain creating havoc in the city: the Side-Splitter. His electromagnetic powers combined with a large army of clone-like clowns are damaging property and endangering lives. The Infinity Trinity must figure out how to defeat him, while also helping The League decode cryptic message from the European front.
  
  Hannigan does what she does best: write engaging storylines with dynamic, relatable characters - all the while weaving in accurate historical information (Japanese balloon bombs, who knew?). I highly recommend this for students in grades 4+, although it could easily be used for strong readers in younger grades. All content is age appropriate.
  
  Thanks to NetGalley, the author, illustrator and Aladdin Publishing for a preview copy.
• 
  Becky B

  The Infinity Trinity are out looking for Zenobia and the other missing superheroes. They stop by the Japanese internment camp where Akiko's mother was and find that she's also missing, so they head to Akiko's old home in San Francisco. While there they stumble on another supervillain working for the Japanese, and a code just for them.
  
  I found this a bit more disjointed and almost too simplistic than the first book. It didn't always flow well in either the text or graphic novel chapters. It ended much stronger than it started, but I was a little disappointed. There's a decent little mystery for the heroines to solve. They get to crack some codes along the way, and they meet 2 historic code breaking women (Genevieve Grotjan and Elizebeth Friedman) and one historic spy for the Japanese (the Dolly Lady) and one historic spy for the Allies (Noor Khan). So kids do get to learn some real WWII history about women instrumental to defeating the Axis powers during WWII. This series is good for kids reluctant to read historical fiction but who love superheroes and codes.
  
  Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Some superhero violence but no one is seriously hurt.
• 
  Libby

  I didn't read the first book in The League of Secret Heroes, and perhaps that's why I had a hard time connecting with this story. The premise of secret heroes helping to fight during WWII is intriguing, but I found it hard to separate integrate the super hero aspects with real history. The interspersed graphic segments were a lot more fun but didn't always integrate smoothly with the narrative sections. In spite of my lukewarm response, I think this may be popular with middle grade superhero fans.
• 
  Panda Incognito

  2.5 stars, rounded up for the history-based content. I really enjoyed the first book in this series when it came out, but I mostly skimmed this one. It seems very heavy-handed at times, doesn't have much character development, and has a lot of silly story elements that don't fit with the high stakes or serious historical tie-ins.
• 
  Olive Arianna E.

  These books were like,,, so cute and fun?? Love ww2 fiction love superheroes love the vintage old superhero vibes they were goin for love it
  Not as terribly preachy as i was afraid of either which was nice
  DID have to suspended my disbelief high enough to pull me out of the story a few times in the second and third book tho
• 
  Lisa D

  Loved it! What a great sequel! In this book, the three main characters who are known as the infinity trinity learn that a spy is betraying secrets to the Japanese & that one of the characters family may be involved! Love this series! Can’t wait for the next book!
• 
  Catherine Fitzsimmons

  I still feel as though there's too much going on in this series, but this book was better. Even if it was a little predictable and the twists a little obvious. Still love the concept, the storytelling through both written and graphic novel, and the inclusion of actual historical figures/events.
• 
  Michele Knott

  Another fun story in the series that mashes historical fiction, superheroes, and comics!
• 
  Paul Delacruz

  Grrrl Power
  
  The war is not over where these superheroes continue to battle evildoers. Excellent book for girls to learn they too can be intelligent and lead the way to help make the world better.
• 
  Smitha

  Read this book with my 11 year old. It brought up so many questions/conversations about our history, where we hurt so many, while it kept us engaged. We can't wait for the sequel.
• 
  Gracie Lockhart

  I’ve got to say that this book does not disappoint. Though I wished that it would have been from the perspective of Akiko or Mae and not just Josie.
• 
  Katy Lovejoy

  I'm not against superheroes but I kist dont like this one that much
• 
  Robyn Francis

  We loved this!! Very clean and a fantastic perspective about women helping war efforts!
• 
  Grace

  This is a second book in a series and it is a good follow up to the first book. The characters are developing and they are bonding forming friendships that are just beyond super powers. Although I enjoyed that development and all the different supporting characters and their trio's seek for the truth to all the superheors that disappeared, I also enjoyed the historical aspect of the book. The fact that Hannigan focused on how the Japanese citizens were treated during that time, where their civil rights were completely violated and had to sell everything they owned to move into concentration camps. There has been a lot of focus on what was done to the Jews overseas, but it also happened here on US soil. We didn't "kill" any in the concentration camp, but they were prisoners with all personal belongings sold. Once the war was over, they had to rebuild all the lives. I agree that it was an "ugly" part of the America history but Hannigan treated it with the right touch of informing young readers that it was wrong without going overboard with the injustice.