School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Certainly Stainlezz Steel can save Union Middle School. The trouble is he exists only in the imagination of Kenny Wright. Bookish, chess-loving Kenny lives with his activist "G-ma" in inner-city Washington, DC, where he copes daily with bullying hulks. After Kenny and classmate Ray-Ray get into a fight, Kenny is charged with teaching the other boy chess, but Ray-Ray has plenty to teach him, too. Then "Grandma's Boy" Kenny channels Stainlezz Steel's courage and strength to address his moral dilemmas. Kenny is a real, completely likable character who should resonate with unsung heroes. Narrator Joshua Boone is completely true to the fast-paced, urban-kid banter. His varied voices make the story easy to follow. Sound effects help paint pictures in listeners minds, but the third CD includes more than 100 drawings by Cory Thomas that bring the characters to life. VERDICT This is an excellent choice for those seeking a funny middle school story with some life lessons snuck in for good measure.-Jane Newschwander, Fluvanna County Public Schools, VA © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Kenny Wright, an African American sixth grader in a tough DC public school, takes a lot of flack for loving chess and his grandma. But his alter ego, Stainlezz Steel, keeps the streets safe from petty burglaries, rescues cats, and battles his arch nemesis. Interspersed with comic panels, this funny and enlightening book will have wide appeal. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Kenny's dreams of superpowered heroics provide a respite from his tough school.Kenny Wright loves his grandma, chess and superheroes. Less loved is his school, an overcrowded, underfunded cinderblock straight out of the fourth season of The Wire. A string of peculiar circumstances puts Kenny in the position of teaching his enemy, Ray-Ray, how to play chess, but this crummy state of affairs may be just what Kenny needs right now. Just as Patterson (Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life, in print 2011) used comic observations to explore a culture ruled by test scores, this outing is an examination of inner-city schools, a subsection of our educational system plagued by budget cuts, principal-hopping and a society that may have written them off entirely. Thankfully, the authors never get too preachy for their own good. The cultural analysis is secondary to Kenny and the relationships he has with his friends and his grandmother. Told with the humorous style characteristic of Patterson when he's in preteen mode, the novel fits right in with I Funny (2012), Middle School and the like. Adding to the book's charm is a periodic collection of comic-filled pages that help further illustrate Kenny's inner workings as well as present just plain fun superhero stories. A smart and kind story topped with just the right amount of social justice. (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In a novel aimed as much at parents as at their middle-school children, Kenny a sixth-grader at Washington, D.C.'s Union Middle School and longtime bully victim finds ways to give his rep a remake. After he falls afoul of the new, refreshingly caring principal, Dr. Yetty, Kenny finds himself teaching chess to a streetwise classmate in lieu of detention and discovers that the learning goes both ways. When Dr. Yetty is suddenly transferred, Kenny joins his furious grandmother an old civil rights era warrior and other parents in a march. Readers, particularly in beleaguered urban districts, will see plenty of parallels between their schools and Union Middle and sympathize with Kenny's cause. Along with pen-and-ink spot illustrations, Thomas contributes pages of comic-book panels that portray Kenny's angst over keeping his (minor) malfeasances in school from G'ma as a running battle between costumed crime fighter Stainlezz Steel and his evil doppelgänger, Shameless Steal. The tidy but optimistic end brings clear wins for the good guys, costumed and otherwise. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Patterson, a longtime force in the adult market, has nabbed a new legion of fans through his best-selling Middle School series. With admirers of all ages, don't be surprised if everyone wants to get their hands on his latest.--Peters, John Copyright 2015 Booklist
