I never saw the Lois Lane/Veronica Mars connection until I read this book. Gwenda Bond spins an enjoyable story of a high school-aged Lois Lane, who moves to Metropolis hoping for a fresh start. As the daughter of a three-star General, Lois has lived the classic army brat life—moving from place to place and never quite fitting in or getting a chance to put down roots. It doesn’t help that she has a penchant for standing up for the little guy, tackling lost causes, and chafing against authority (and that includes her father). However, Lois hopes that Metropolis will be different—a big city high school where she can blend in and not make waves.
That goes about as well as you might expect. Lois hasn’t been at school for more than a few hours when she witnesses some bizarre behavior. A group of teens, who dress alike and seem strangely in sync, are bullying a studious young woman and though this takes place right in front of the school’s principal, he does nothing to stop it. Lois steps in and this has consequences both positive and negative. She embarrasses the principal in front of an important visitor but she also catches the attention of said visitor, who just happens to be Perry White from the Daily Planet. White taps her to be in a special program where a small group of Metropolis high school students work on an online student newspaper, The Scoop. Since Lois dreams of being a journalist (even as she bemoans her terrible spelling), this seems a great opportunity to work toward her career goal and possible make some friends.
With echoes of Veronica Mars and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (in a good way), all is not right at Metropolis High and it has something to do with the odd clique of video game playing bullies, called the Warheads. Lois dives in—hoping that a story in the Scoop will stop this group as well as attract readers; however, what it attracts is trouble.
Bond’s Lois Lane is a nice blend of confident and unsure, snarky but with a big heart. She’s smart and brave but also a little lonely. An added bonus is her online friendship with Smallville guy, a boy she’s never met but who she has connected with because of a shared interest in and experience with odd phenomena. The fun is that we know who he is and why he needs to keep his identity a secret but Lois only knows that she really likes and is beginning to rely on this online friend.
From reading the description of this YA novel, I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy it but it was even more fun than I expected. I look forward to seeing what trouble Lois Lane gets herself into next.
