Reading Metrics
Description
Alex Wilder and five other children are shocked to learn that their parents are actually part of something called "The Pride." Alex thinks they're superheroes until the kids witness the adults murder a young girl in a sacrificial ritual. Book #1
Quick Summary
If your kid is into comics at all, The Pride is an absolute must-read. Alex Wilder and his crew of scrappy middle schoolers stumble onto the wild revelation that their parents are secretly part of an ancient supervillain organization called "The Pride," and what starts as a fun mystery turns seriously dark when the kids witness something they can never unsee. It's a quick read at just over 1,500 words, so even reluctant readers can power through it, but don't let the short length fool you there's real emotional weight here when these kids have to figure out who they really are separate from their parents' choices. The artwork is bold and striking, and the story flips between the kids' perspective and flashbacks showing what the parents were like as young people, which adds this really compelling layer of "how did things go so wrong?" Fans of Miles Morales or Young Adult graphic novels with morally complex storylines will gravitate toward this one. Fair warning for sensitive readers: there's a genuinely creepy and unsettling scene involving the sacrifice, so it's more intense than the "kids discover parents are secretly cool" setup might suggest this isn't a comedy, it's a thriller that happens to have young protagonists. That said, it's a fantastic conversation starter about loyalty, identity, and whether you can break cycles, and it's the kind of book that makes kids want to immediately talk about what they just read.