Author of The Big Splash and Emmy-winning writer for PBS's WordGirl, Jack D. Ferraiolo delivers the uproarious adventure of a different kind of hero. Behind every superhero stands a trusty-though less glamorous-sidekick. For Phantom Justice there is (drumroll,please) Bright Boy! Superfast and superstrong! Of course, when not fighting crime, Bright Boy leads a humbler existence as ordinary kid Scott Hutchinson. The superhero job might make for a plum gig, but after a humiliating incident with his spandex costume, Scott finds his world isn't exactly the stuff of dreams.
Matt Stevens is as tough as a steak from the school cafeteria. He’s a seventh-grade private eye, and he just did something he said he’d never do. He accepted a job from Vincent “Vinny Biggs” Biggio, the kid behind every illegal deal made at Franklin Middle School, from black market candy to forged hall passes.
You see, life at the Frank is tough. Get on the wrong side of Vinny Biggs and you’ll find yourself in the Outs, the least popular “club” in school. How do you get there? Water (or any other liquid) strategically splattered below your belt for maximum humiliation.
When Nicole Finnegan, a.k.a. Nikki Fingers, the most feared squirt-gun assassin at the Frank, is put in the Outs, Matt feels partially to blame and is determined to find the trigger kid. Problem is, Nikki has more enemies than a snitch during a final exam. Every kid in school is a suspect, including Kevin Carling, Matt’s former best friend and the current right-hand man to Vinny Biggs. Matt had better watch his back, and especially his front, as he tackles a case with more twists than a candy addict on a swivel chair.
