Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds is a personal story about Miles Morales balancing being a teenager and helping people. His personal life seems to be falling apart. He is suspended from school. He can’t talk to the girl he likes without being sick. He watched his Uncle Arron follow the wrong path and wondered if he was on it. Being Spider-Man is challenging for Miles. His spider-sense is unreliable, going off in class when there is no danger. Jason Reynolds is a fantastic writer for teens and tweens. He can tap into those fears we all had as kids: if we fit in. Are we on the right path? Are our relationships with parents, crushes, and friends going the right way?
The book is not action-packed. Miles only suits up a couple of times as Spider-Man. He fights more personal demons than real ones. This book is not a great comic book adaptation for a Spider-Man story. However, it is a great adaptation for the character of Miles Morales. Reynolds nails the family dynamic of Miles, his dad, and his mom. Every scene with the family is gold. I know Miles Morales mainly from the video games and the Into the Spiderverse movies. This story felt like an extension of Miles and his family. The pace of the story is a little slow. You can feel the loss of action. The storyline in parts reminded me of the groundbreaking The Amazing Spider-Man comic #50 Spider-Man No More. Where that comic was one issue of Peter Parker rejecting Spiderman, a whole book is a lot. Jason Reynolds’ writing keeps this book from being boring. Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds was first published on August 1, 2017.

Why did I read Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds? I’m a big fan of Jason Reynolds, the writer, and the character of Miles Morales. I’m going to meet Jason Reynolds in October at a book signing. I wanted to become more familiar with his works.

Plot Summary: Miles Morales is Spider-Man. He is also a teenager. He still has to attend class and work a job. Miles was in the middle of his history class when his spider-sense was going off, signaling someone was in trouble. He asked to use the bathroom but was refused, so he did what heroes do and bolted. He got suspended, and soon after he left class, his spider-sense went away. He has also been having dreams of his uncle Aaron, who was a criminal, and Miles becoming one. He gets a letter from jail from his cousin Austin, who is Aaron’s son. Is this a sign of what his life could become? His grades have started slipping in school, balancing Spider-Man and being a student. So he decides to give up being Spider-Man. With Miles not patrolling the street, a gang starts stealing shoes, and homeless people start disappearing. Miles could be their only hope. Can he be Spider-Man and be a good student?

What I Liked: The family scenes are written so well. You will fall in love with the family dynamic. I love his father’s quips about Miles’s excessive bed wetting when he was a child. That exchange had me rolling with laughter and embarrassment. I do like the relationship between Miles and his roommate Ganke. Ganke knows Miles’ secret but treats him like a regular guy. I do love the relationship between Miles and his poetry teacher. Jason Reynolds is a great poet, so the book has some amazing poems in it. Spilling the salsa story was great. I loved the librarian and her knowledge of the spider’s web connecting the past and present was great. The protest at the end was written so well. I could feel the chanting as I read.

What I Disliked: The main villain of the Warden was weird. I thought he was created for this book, but he is a villain in Miles Morales’s universe. His plot was to keep the black man down to maintain order. I think it fits in with this story, but not as well as it could have. The book should have had at least two more scenes of action. The action that we did get was just okay.

Recommendation: Miles Morales: Spider-Man is a good Jason Reynolds book, but not a great Spider-Man book. I recommend this book more for fans of Jason Reynold’s books than comic book fans. I think as a kid, I would have found this book a little bit boring. As an adult, I appreciate the narrative, the hard truths, and the way Reynolds does not talk down to kids, just tells it as it is. Miles is 16 in the book. I think kids aged 13 to 15 will relate the most to this book. They’ll identify with what Miles is going through. I will barely recommend Miles Morales: Spider-Man to my followers because of the writing.

Rating: Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds. I rated 3.3 out of 5.

Ranking: I have read and reviewed 3 three books by Jason Reynolds. I will rank them from favorite to least favorite: 1) Long Way Down, 2) Ghost, and 3) Miles Morales: Spider-Man.