Fight against a bug monster that's made up of hundreds of termites that morph into a large termite creature. Punches, kicks, falls, throws, and a little bit of blood.
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Miles tells a story about catching an ex-girlfriend kissing someone else. She then tells him that she was only learning how to kiss him better and then proceeds to kiss Miles "with tongue." Miles sends love poems and notes to a girl in class. Some talk about "how to get girls."
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Miles is biracial, with a Black father and a mother from Puerto Rico. His best friend is Korean. Alicia, Miles' love interest, is also Black, and author Jason Reynolds is Black.
Stand up to racism. Be a good person. Themes of integrity and courage.
Positive Role Models
some
Miles Morales is trying to figure out how to be a good superhero. He's also navigating how to be a good student in a high school that has a few racist teachers, the occasionally confusing batch of schoolwork, and common awkward social situations, some of which involve a girl he likes.
Educational Value
very little
Facts about spiders.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man Novel is a young adult novel about Miles Morales (Spider-Man) figuring out who he is as a 16-year-old teenager. While attending school in New York City, Miles navigates life as a Black teenager, which too often means others making unfair assumptions about the type of person he is. He has to deal with a termite infestation, racist teachers, and an in-school suspension. The teacher's biased treatment of Miles is shown, but he resists the teacher's attempts to embarrass him. Violence is limited to a battle against a big bug monster. Miles punches and kicks the monster, and it slashes and swipes back, drawing blood on Miles' cheek once. Some illustrations depict the fight and the monster in silhouette, but none are detailed. Miles also tells a story about catching his ex-girlfriend kissing someone else -- after he confronted her about it, she told him that she did it to learn how to better kiss him and proceeded to "kiss him with tongue." Miles also pines for a girl throughout the story, sending her notes and poetry. A few times, she kind of flirts back. There's a brief mention of a neighborhood man who "bums cigarettes and lighters." Strong language includes a few instances of "s--t," "a--hole," "ass," and "crap."
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What's the Story?
In MILES MORALES SUSPENDED: A SPIDER-MAN NOVEL, 16-year-old Miles Morales is trying to survive at Brooklyn Visions Academy, a "fancy school" with a racist teacher who's bent on making Miles suffer. While trying to keep it together, Miles also notices a troubling termite infestation that seems to be connected to a particular student.
A fast read that has lots of poetry mixed in with its prose, this superhero "day in the life" story feels like reading a moment-to-moment stream of Miles' thoughts throughout the day. The structure of Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man Novel provides a really cool, close-up look at Miles and his inner life, feelings, thoughts, worries, memories, and hopes. But the format also makes the story feel like less a story and more like a snapshot.
Of course, everything happening in a single day also makes the novel feel like a vertical slice of Miles' life. This means that there's never a sense of a beginning, middle, and end, nor a sense of adventure or journey. But there are plenty of great moments that speak to high school kids who must feel like Miles does: persecuted, misunderstood, and unfairly treated. There's also a deeper, more mature metaphor that runs through the novel and operates as its main threat -- i.e., the termites (which can be seen as stand-ins for racism and racist people and beliefs). The only downside is that this enemy isn't really personified, which means that the story lacks a meaty villain/enemy, even if the adversary does take the shape of one in the end.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about racism in young adult novels. Did any of the racism in Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man Novel shock you? If you were in Miles' shoes, do you think you'd have reacted the way he did?
Available on:
Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
Last updated:
May 11, 2023
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By JK Sooja
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