Ms. Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson

I was searching for another book in my stacks when I saw this. I flipped it open, read 2 pages and didn't stop reading until I was done. That's what adults do sometimes, sit on their floor in front of a bookcase, reading comics....right??

Kamala Khan is just some sixteen year old Muslim girl in New Jersey. Nothing special, except because she's brown, Muslim, has weird diet restrictions and a crazy Muslim family, she's on everyone's radar. She just wishes to be blonde, pretty, and superhero-y. Is that too much to ask for?

After sneaking out of her bedroom to go to a party that her father explicitly vetoed, she realizes that the students whom she thought were nice...really are not nice. She leaves just as a strange fog envelopes the city. When she passes out from the fog, she's visited by her favorite Marvel heroes. When Kamala wakes, she's become what she always wanted: a pretty blonde superhero.

I really wish this type of graphic novel had been around in my teen years. Being pretty and blonde amazingly does not fix Kamala's problems. Crazy, right?  Instead, this new power of hers is something she really needs to master, all the while not pissing off her parents anymore than she has, not getting detention anymore and not alienating her friends. This part sounds very familiar to me, being a HUGE Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan. Which maybe why I loved this so much.

Already on my way to get the next volumes in the series.