vrrrrrrr
A familiar sound coming from an unfamiliar place—inside the kitchen drawer. Miles pulled it open and saw his cell phone sitting inside, where his dad must have placed it the night he’d flown out the window.
Miles checked the screen. The text was from Henry.
Priority-five incident. Tree fell over and downed some power lines.
Downed power lines. That was dangerous, wasn’t it? High voltage was nothing to mess around with. What if the power lines were near a pool filled with kids going for a night swim? The cape was waiting in his room. It’d take only a few minutes for him to check it out.
Kids going for a night swim? That was his imagination getting away from him. Miles wasn’t going to make up excuses to wear the cape anymore. When the city really needed him, he’d be there. Always. But in between, he was going to be there for the people who cared about him. That was important, too.
The power company can handle it, Miles texted back. Talk to you tomorrow. Miles thought for a moment, then added one last thing. But if anything major happens, let me know.
Miles dialed Josie’s number. She picked up halfway through the first ring.
“Hello? Miles, is that you?”
Yeah, Miles Taylor was a superhero. But he was also Hollis Taylor’s son, Henry’s Matte’s best friend, and Josie Campobasso’s not-quite-boyfriend-but-definitely-something.
He was the luckiest kid in the world.
© Gerald R. Lucas
ROBERT VENDITTI is the author of both books in the Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape series: Attack of the Alien Horde and Rise of the Robot Army. With Rick Riordan he adapted the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series into graphic novels, and he has written the monthly adventures of Green Lantern and the Flash. Robert lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife and two children. Visit his website at robertvenditti.com.
DUSTY HIGGINS is an award-winning magazine and newspaper cartoonist and illustrator. He broke into comics in 2009 with Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer, chosen as one of the year’s top ten graphic novels by YALSA. His other works for kids include Attack of the Alien Horde and Rise of the Robot Army. Dusty lives in central Arkansas. Learn more at dustyhiggins.com.
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ALSO BY ROBERT VENDITTI
Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape:
Attack of the Alien Horde
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An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2016 by Robert Venditti
Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Dusty Higgins
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Book design by Greg Stadnyk
The illustrations for this book were rendered digitally.
Names: Venditti, Robert. | Higgins, Dusty, illustrator.
Title: Rise of the robot army / Robert Venditti ; illustrated by Dusty Higgins.
Description: First edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2016. | Series: Miles Taylor and the golden cape ; 2 | Summary: Reluctant superhero Miles Taylor battles an army of deadly robots, but struggles to dominate eighth grade at Chapman Middle School, where bullies and unrequited love await.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015039685| ISBN 9781481405577 (hardback)
ISBN 9781481405591 (e-book)
Subjects: | CYAC: Superheroes—Fiction. | Robots—Fiction. | Middle schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Comics & Graphic Novels / Superheroes. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / Survival Stories. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship.
Classification: LCC PZ7.V5565 Ri 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015039685