'When middle school friends Mel, Lisa, and Gwen, along with a pet rat named Razzie, go looking for Gwen’s missing older sister, they find themselves in a greenhouse with giant carnivorous plants, a mad scientist with an evil plan, menacing thugs, and… newly developed superpowers that they mysteriously develop just in time to save the day (and their own butts)!'
Super hero comics are a big business; they're what a lot of people think about when you say the word comics. But with decades long histories and characters that have long and complex worlds around them it can be hard for some people to know where to begin; and some younger readers might not want to delve into dark and gritty super hero worlds and could want something lighter instead. Rainbow Girls seems to be the kind of book that's an ideal introduction to super hero stories for younger readers.
The story begins with three young girls, Lisa, Melanie, and Gwen having to work together on a school project. Whilst Gwen and Lisa are already friends, the two of them are unsure about working with Melanie, a girl who's obsessed with shopping and fashion. The three of them head over to Gwen's house, ready to get their homework out of the way, but when Gwen is unable to find her older sister, Lulu, she begins to get worried.
When there's no sign of Lulu, and she seems to have simply vanished without a trace, the three girls try to figure out what might have happened to her. Their investigation leads the three of them to a dodgy building where they find that someone has been stalking Lulu, and learn that she was kidnapped and taken to an abandoned greenhouse that has a secret lab beneath it. Heading to the green house, the three of them are determined to find Lulu; but none of them are ready for the strange things that happen once they get there, or the odd powers that they will end up developing because of it.
Rainbow Girls: Let's Save Lulu is very much a superhero origin story, and because of this most of the book is spent not with three powerful heroes, but some ordinary schoolgirls. This isn't a bad thing though, as even without powers and abilities Gwen, Mel and Lisa prove to be a competent and clever trio. After learning that Lulu is gone and that it doesn't seem like she left home of her own free will they start trying to put the pieces together, and make some good deductions to do so. They manage to find the clue that will lead them to Lulu's kidnapper, they track down his location, and they manage to sneak in and get the next important piece of information that will lead to her location.
These are not easy things, especially for a group of pre-teens who have never had to think like this before, let alone breaking into scary buildings searching for clues to a kidnapping. These moments also allow the three girls to show off how different they are to each other too, and it allows Mel the chance to win the other two girls over to seeing that despite her love of fashion and shopping she isn't just an empty-headed bimbo as they first thought.
Once the three of them arrive at the hidden lab they find themselves developing strange powers thanks to a combination of hiding in drums filled with chemical waste, as well as being bitten by mutant plants. Mel gains the ability to change her size, shrinking or growing at will. Lisa is able to project force-fields and protective bubbles around her and her friends. And Gwen gains the ability to talk to her sisters pet rat. Okay, so Gwen definitely gets the really short end of the deal with her powers as the others get things that are good in a fight, or useful to helping them escape the facility; whilst Gwen gets to talk to a rat who already seemed to be able to understand people anyway.
If I were Gwen I would feel really, really annoyed with my powers. There isn't really any time during the book that she's able to talk to Razzie the rat where it seemed to actually do much to help. She tells him to attack the plant monster, which he probably would have done anyway, and she listens to him when he tells her Lulu is close, but they'd also interpreted his messages pretty well up to that point anyway. If I were Gwen I'd be hoping I could talk to other animals too, as I'd be super annoyed and jealous of my friends powers right now as she's kind of useless as a hero.
That's probably my biggest complaint about the book, that one of this trio of super heroes kind of seems a bit like a joke. Her powers do nothing to help, she can't get involved in combat, she isn't useful when trying to escape. She's like the useless kid mascot of the team, except she shouldn't be. Perhaps this is something that will change as the series goes on, and she will discover that she can do more with her powers; but for now she's pretty rubbish.
The book has some nice art, provided by Helene Canac. The style is very simple, with a cartoonish and bold look to it that makes it easy to understand; and probably makes it an easy style for children reading the book to emulate, allowing them to draw the Rainbow Girls fairly easily. There are times where I think older readers might find the style too simplistic and stylised; but this is a book for younger readers, and the style works perfectly for that.
With hints that there is more to come at the end Rainbow Girls: Let's Save Lulu is definitely laying the groundwork for things to come. It's the origin story for this trio of heroes, and as such it's not full of bright costumes and super powers; but it does a good job at setting everything up for future instalments. If you've got a young reader who's into super heroes, especially young girls, this is a great book to try them on.
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