Different Cloaks for Different Folks! Super Manny Stands Up! by Kelly DiPucchio

Every day Manny put on a different cape after school.

When he wore his blue cape he was fearless.

In his red cape he battled an army of of zombie bears.

In his purple cape Manny overpowers alien robots from hostile planets. In his green cape he bests forest giants.

Manny is indeed a legend in his own mind. With a wardrobe of capes for all occasions, he is strong and brave enough to defeat any mean monsters and bad guys he meets.

But Manny is a good kid, and since costumes are strictly forbidden (except on special days), at school Manny is cloaked only in the school uniform of superhero capes--

Manny saved his top-secret undercover cape for school.

The INVISIBLE CAPE!

But one day in the school cafeteria, he encounters a new bad guy loudly giving orders to his friend, Small One.

"I SAID MOVE!"

Tall one towered over Small One.

Manny can't move out of his seat. He can't even move his mouth. He looks around for a lunch monitor, but there's no help in sight. At last he manages to speak but his voice comes out very small and squeaky.

"Stop it."

Manny remembers his invisible cape and bumps it up a bit.

"Stop it."

Apparently, mild-mannered reproaches don't work so well with lunchroom bullies. All eyes are now on Manny and the bully. It's time for Super Manny to put up or shut up!

Will Manny find his super self and stand up to face down Tall One?

Once in a while, everyone needs to find his or her inner superhero, and Manny has his moment in Kelly DeiPucchio's newest, Super Manny Stands Up! (Atheneum Books, 2017).   Author-illustrator DiPucchio sets the scene and skillfully builds the suspense for the final shootout in the OK Cafeteria, with a timely, back-to-school message that sometimes bullies just need someone to stand up to them, especially when the small and meek are in need of rescue.

DiPucchio's pictures Manny and his superhero fantasies engagingly in her pencil and water ink illustrations and makes good use of thought balloons and font size to stage Manny's big moment. Youngsters will share Manny's moment of truth gleefully and also appreciate the secondary message that it's good to have some sidekicks on your side when super deeds are in order. Says Publishers Weekly, "When the lunchroom scene unfolds, the images take on surprising and touching drama, creating a powerful moment of truth."