Mike Jung

Twelve-year-old Vincent and his fellow members of the Captain Stupendous Fan Club help out when someone new becomes Earth's most famous superhero, without knowing anything about him, just as evil Professor Mayhem and his robot arrive in Copperplate City.

Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities

With Mitch Park's best friend Eric moving away at the end of the year, the two boys hatch a plan for one big final adventure together. During the marching band competition at a Giant Amusement Park they will sneak away to a nearby comics convention and meet their idol - a famous comic creator. Without cell phones. Or transportation. Or permission. But of course the plan (like the boys themselves) is delightfully, hilariously flawed.

The Boys in the Back Row

Chloe Cho is a Korean American seventh-grader who would like to get in touch with many of the aspects of her heritage, but her parents are unwilling to talk about it--then when a class assignment forces Chloe to confront them directly, they tell her that they are not Korean, and indeed not human at all, which is really just too much for a girl to deal with.

Unidentified Suburban Object

Can knowing the most superhero trivia in the whole school be considered a superpower? If so, Vincent Wu is invincible. If not (and let's face it, it's "not"), then Vincent and his pals Max and George don't get any props for being the leaders (and, well, sole members) of the (unofficial) Captain Stupendous Fan Club. But what happens when the Captain is hurt in an incident involving BOTH Professor Mayhem and his giant indestructible robot AND (mortifyingly) Polly Winnicott-Lee, the girl Vincent totally has a crush on? The entire city is in danger, Vincent's parents and his friends aren't safe, the art teacher has disappeared, and talking to Polly is REALLY, REALLY AWKWARD. Only Vincent Wu has what it takes to save the Captain, overcome Professor Mayhem, rally his friends, and figure out what to say to Polly. But will anyone take him seriously? Seriously. Anyone?? Find out in this action-packed super comedy debut.

The next person who compares Chloe Cho with famous violinist Abigail Yang is going to HEAR it. Chloe has just about had it with people not knowing the difference between someone who's Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. She's had it with people thinking that everything she does well -- getting good grades, winning first chair in the orchestra, et CETera -- are because she's ASIAN. Of course, her own parents don't want to have anything to DO with their Korean background. Any time Chloe asks them a question they change the subject. They seem perfectly happy to be the only Asian family in town. It's only when Chloe's with her best friend, Shelly, that she doesn't feel like a total alien. Then a new teacher comes to town: Ms. Lee. She's Korean American, and for the first time Chloe has a person to talk to who seems to understand completely. For Ms. Lee's class, Chloe finally gets to explore her family history. But what she unearths is light-years away from what she expected.

Best friends Matt and Eric are hatching a plan for one big final adventure together before Eric moves away: during the marching band competition at a Giant Amusement Park, they will sneak away to a nearby comics convention and meet their idol—a famous comic creator. Without cell phones. Or transportation. Or permission. Of course, their final adventure together is more than just that—really, it's a way for the boys to celebrate their friendship, and their honest love and support for one another. That's exactly what we love so much about The Boys in the Back Row: it's an unabashed ode to male friendship, because love between boys, platonic or otherwise, is something to celebrate. And of course, because this is Mike Jung, we'll be celebrating it with hilariously flawed hijinks and geekiness galore!

Mike Jung

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