An Unlikely Hero

10 year old Newt Newman is the kid that most people overlook.   The spotlight in his family is directed at his older brother Chris, the Filmore High School football legend.  The busy family focuses the majority of their energy supporting Chris and his football.  One of the biggest events in town is Filmore's yearly Big Game against cross-town Rival Merrimac High School.   When the night of the Big Game finally arrives, the entire town is focused on seeing who will win the big game.  All eyes are on Chris on the night of the big game to see if he can lead the Filmore team to another victory.  Tragically, the game takes an unexpected turn and Chris is tragically injured and goes into a coma.  The families first priority becomes standing vigil by Chris's bedside hoping for him to awake from his coma and recover.  Unfortunately, Newt is not allowed in the hospital and finds himself facing the reality of what is happening to his brother on his own.

 Newt's friends decide to boost his spirits by getting him into the spirit Halloween.  Newt ultimately decided to become a character called Captain Nobody.  He finds dressing as the character Captain Nobody makes him feel powerful and important.  He makes the decision to continue to wear the costume even after Halloween has ended.   Newt's two best friends fully support his choice and remain on the lookout for situations that can only be handled by Captain Nobody.  Newt ends up finding himself getting involved in some precarious situations as Captain Nobody.    I think most kids could identify with Newt's feelings of not quite fitting in, often feeling invisible to the adults in their world, and the desire to stand out and be noticed.

 Activities:

1.  design your  own super hero  like the ones designed by Newt in his sketchbooks.  Include the following information about your hero.

• Name your super hero. 
• Describe the unique powers and abilities possessed by your super hero.  
• Create and illustration of your super hero. 
• write a story involving an adventure that their super hero would have. 
• design their super hero costumes and dress up as their character. 
• Would you want to be a super hero?  Explain the benefits and possible problems that a person might face if they had some sort of super powers?