If you have a child in the 8-13 year old range who loves superheroes, he/she would probably enjoy reading the Secret Hero Society series. The book series follows the adventures of preteen versions of Bruce Wayne (Batman), Clark Kent (Superman), and Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) through school and their adventures in school. There are other familiar characters from DC including super villains, too.

As they go through their adventures the characters are aware of their powers, but at the same time they are not full blown superheroes either. Some of their teachers in school might be familiar villains. 

For some, it might sound a lot like the DC Superhero Girls, but it isn't. This I a different beast. The book is written in a graphic novel but also novel style. It does a good job of combining the two formats into one easy to read and enjoyable set of books. If I were to compare it to something I would say it is more like the movie Sky High than DC Superhero Girls.

My son loves these books and I highly recommend them. Book 5 comes out early next year, so now is the time to catch up! 

by Donny Yankellow

This weekend was my third time attending the Maryland Renaissance Festivalin about thirty years. For me, it is not a yearly event (obviously). I thought it would be fun to go with my family, and it was a fun day. We looked at art, watched some shows and the glass blower, ate some food, and played some games.

Surprisingly, most of the food was reasonably priced. Our lunches were $6-8 each, and the portions were not skimpy. 

The festival itself seemed to have tripled in size since I was last there. There are a lot more games and a lot more stages and food vendors. Obviously, this makes for more to do. Of course, there are the wooden sword/weapon vendors that every kid wants to buy. Yes, mine did too, but he did not walk out with one.

Here's my problem with the festival. For a family of three it was about $60 for us to attend. That is admission pricing (it varies throughout the season). We expected to pay for food and drinks that we bought. I even understand having to pay extra to play a game, if it has a chance for a prize. Even theme parks like Kings Dominion and Hersheypark do this. Several of the games had no prizes or gave a wooden nickel for a prize when the game was $1.

However, charging $1 to go down a wooden slide or charging $1 at a game vendor to try one of the games is ridiculous. The slide and non prized games should be free. After all, you are paying a hefty admissions fee. The game vendor was truly wrong. You are charging me $1 to try a game you are trying to sell me (you get the $1 back if you buy a game)? Many people heard that and left the area. My son got lucky and the person helping him didn't ask for the $1. That is just bad business, and those were the vendors we saw doing this.

Don't get me wrong. The Renaissance Festival can be a fun experience, But nickel and dining the customer as we experienced is wrong. Hopefully when, or if, we go again (won't be for a while) things are better. Then again, they might start charging for seats at the shows!