Stan Hawthorne and the Broken Sword (paperback)

Even with a super-powered samurai armor, it's dangerous to fight alone... 

I always thought America was full of cowboys, but turns out it’s mostly hipsters and beach bums. Or maybe that’s just San Francisco. I’m Stan Hawthorne—undercover superhero and first-chair violinist in my year nine high school orchestra—but the bad guys call me Kagami, after my samurai water armor. It’s like my secret identity. Brilliant, eh?

I live in a giant mansion near the bay with an old archaeologist and a bunch of other boys he adopted who also have super-powerful samurai armors. We’re supposed to save the world from an evil emperor or something, but mostly the lads just fight with each other, while I try not to fail algebra.

Every once in a while, a little robot soldier shows up, just to make life interesting. Usually when I’m trying not to be awkward around a girl. Or when my best mate, Karl, is too busy stuffing his face with tacos to be helpful. But a few days ago, on the way home from school, I tangled with a soldier who wasn’t like the others. I mean, this bloke was bad news.

I thought fighting samurai soldier robots was bad enough. Blimey, was I wrong. 

Laugh your face off at the antics of teenage samurai superheroes in this delightful short novel that matches high school awkwardness with high-stakes action and lots of sword fights.