48 pages • 1 hour read
Powerless
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Prologue-Chapter 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary
Michael, a former super (kid with superpowers), wakes on his 13th birthday with no memory of his ability to fly or the superpowers of his friends, Eric, Mollie, Louisa, Simon, and Rose. Whenever he thinks about the past, he starts to feel sick. He drifts away from his friends during his birthday party, thinking they seem too young for him now. That night, he sees Mollie sitting in the tree outside his third-story bedroom window. As he watches, she lifts into the air and flies away. When she’s out of sight, Michael convinces himself he made the whole thing up and goes to bed. From that day on, he doesn’t think about superpowers anymore, “and he never [flies] again” (10).
Chapter 1 Summary: “The New Kid”
Twelve-year-old Daniel moves to Noble’s Green with his family to take care of his ailing grandmother. While the grown-ups talk, Daniel takes his little brother outside to play, where Mollie introduces herself. While Mollie and Daniel are talking, Daniel’s brother tosses his ball out into the street and goes after it as a truck approaches. Daniel runs, knowing he won’t get there in time, and is suddenly surprised to find Mollie and his brother safely back in the yard. Before Mollie leaves, she tells Daniel to keep an eye on his brother, saying, “I think he likes trouble” (18).
Chapter 2 Summary: “The Bus Stop”
On Daniel’s first day at his new school, he’s still puzzling out how Mollie rescued his brother. He meets up with Mollie and her friend Rohan at the bus stop just as two bullies—Clay and his sidekick Bud—arrive. Clay throws Daniel about 12 feet and takes his backpack. Before a fight can break out, Rohan calmly reminds Clay that someone named Eric will hear about it if Mollie gets hurt. Clay stalks away with the threat that no one stays a kid forever, warning them, “[Y]ou’ll all get what’s coming to you” (28).
Chapter 3 Summary: “The Bridge”
In class, Daniel questions Rohan about how the bully threw him, but Rohan denies that Daniel ever left the ground. Shortly after class begins, Rohan’s friend Eric arrives, soaking wet and grinning. Later, Daniel sees a story in the newspaper about a couple rescued from a creek after a bridge went out. All Daniel can think of is Eric “standing there in his dripping clothes and smiling that big, proud smile” (36).
Chapter 4 Summary: “The Incident at the Observatory”
For the next few weeks, Daniel tries and fails to figure out what secrets Mollie, Rohan, and Eric are keeping. On a trip to the town’s observatory, Daniel ducks into an exhibit that’s under construction to hide from Clay. There, he finds old newspaper clippings about how local hero Jonathan (Johnny) Noble saved kids from an orphanage fire almost 70 years ago. Clay finds Daniel and backs Daniel up to an opening in the wall that looks down on a huge drop. Feeling disoriented, Daniel accidentally steps off the edge. He falls several feet before Eric catches him in midair. Eric tells Daniel, “I guess it’s time we talked, huh?” (43).
Chapter 5 Summary: “The Children of Noble’s Green”
Later that night, Eric flies Daniel to the super’s treehouse, where the supers explain the rules of their powers: use the powers to help, not hurt; the quarry north of the mountain is dangerous; don’t tell grown-ups; the powers end when the kids turn 13. Eric believes Johnny Noble was the original superhero and that he kept his powers into adulthood, but with no proof, it’s just a hope. Daniel feels overwhelmed, but he promises not to blow their cover. Eric flies him home, suggesting that he keep his eyes open for the trip this time “because there’s really nothing like it, Daniel. Nothing at all” (59).
Prologue-Chapter 5 Analysis
By beginning the novel with Michael’s perspective in the Prologue, Cody establishes a sense of urgency in the narrative. Michael’s experience reveals the extent of the consequence of a super losing their powers—consequences that are fast approaching for Daniel’s new friends. Michael doesn’t just lose his powers, he forgets that his powers or the powers of his friends ever existed, despite leaving himself reminders. The fact that loss of power is coupled with loss of memory reflects the prominent trope of superhero fiction that superpowers must never be revealed. Michael’s inability to remember revolves around him thinking superheroes are childlike and something he shouldn’t bother with now that he’s 13. Later chapters will reveal that the villain, Herman Plunkett, intentionally chooses to remove the supers’ powers at 13, which is a symbolic choice: As the first of the teen years, many regard age 13 as the first step into adulthood. However, 13 is also still very young, highlighting the complex transition between childhood and adulthood. When Michael does try to remember his powers, he suddenly feels sick, which prompts him to stop trying. Thus, while the initial removal of his powers is a violation by Plunkett, Michael’s decision to stop trying means his transition toward adulthood is a conscious choice.
This section’s exploration of childhood versus adulthood continues when the supers reveal themselves and their rules to Daniel, including the rule not to tell adults. Daniel is the first “normal” person to know about the supers and their rules in a long time; although he has no powers of his own, the supers aren’t breaking their rules by revealing themselves to him because he isn’t a grown-up. Daniel quickly learns that the supers’ world is governed by these rules, beginning the novel’s exploration of Acceptance Versus Resistance. Though the kids don’t know it yet, everything they believe to be true about their powers and the rules they must follow is a lie fabricated by Plunkett. Their choice to follow these rules rather than question or resist them reflects a human tendency to accept the status quo; however, Daniel and the supers must eventually learn to question the rules to defeat Plunkett.
Though the supers finally reveal their secret to Daniel, his early days in Noble’s Green are marked by confusion and mystery, foreshadowing the critical-thinking and deductive reasoning skills he will eventually draw on to defeat Plunkett and save his friends. Chapters 1-3 contain the hints sequence, where Daniel experiences things that should not be possible but that he can’t deny have happened. Mollie rescuing Daniel’s brother in Chapter 1 and Rohan denying Clay’s strength in Chapter 3 are moments of choice for Daniel. He can either believe them and choose to stop questioning or he can dismiss their cover stories and hunt for the truth. He chooses the latter, revealing his investigative personality. The old story about Johnny Noble in Chapter 4 is one of the first hints Daniel gets about the history of the supers. It jumpstarts his investigation into Plunkett and the town’s past, which ultimately sets the rest of the narrative’s events into motion.
The confrontation with Clay in Chapter 2 exemplifies how having a commonality doesn’t mean people are on the same side. Clay and his sidekick also have superpowers, but unlike Eric’s group, the bullies don’t use their powers for good. Rather, Clay terrorizes Daniel and others, secure in the knowledge they won’t fight back. The only person Clay fears is Eric, which brings a sense of urgency to the mystery of how the powers disappear. At the main story’s outset, Eric is weeks from his 13th birthday, and he fears what will happen when he isn’t there to defend the other kids and the town from Clay. Thus, Eric’s hope that Johnny Noble kept his powers into adulthood is a sign of desperation. Eric doesn’t want to lose his powers because he loves the freedom they give him, but he also believes in his ability to help and do good, things he’d be limited in doing without his powers.
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