The Kid Sensation Series: Books 1-3

By: Kevin Hardman

Narrated by: Mikael Naramore

Length: 20 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's Summary

Get the first three books in the Kid Sensation series.

Sensation (Kid Sensation book one)

Like millions of other kids, Jim grew up wanting to be a superhero. Unlike most of his contemporaries, however, Jim actually had the goods: a plethora of super powers that would have been the envy of any meta on the planet. But when his tryout with the Alpha League - the world's premiere group of supers - goes disastrously wrong, Jim basically becomes an outcast.

Two years later, Jim is still bitter about what happened to him. However, he soon finds himself the centerpiece in an odd turn of events that gives him a second chance at his dream. It’s a lot for one super to handle, even with a smorgasbord of abilities. But if saving the world were easy, everyone would do it....

Mutation (Kid Sensation book two)

Having saved the planet and earned a place with the world’s premiere superhero team, Jim (aka Kid Sensation) is preparing to attend the prestigious Academy, where teen supers from every corner of the globe learn to master their abilities. At the same time, however, he is approached by a mysterious government organization that wants Jim to work for them - and they won’t take no for an answer.

Moreover, at the Academy itself, an insidious and highly contagious virus is running amok through the student population, striking at the heart of their abilities. Students are losing control of their powers, with lethal consequences....

Infiltration (Kid Sensation book three)

Having a surfeit of super powers is great for battling bad guys and saving the world, as Jim (aka Kid Sensation) is finding out, but less useful in dealing with day-to-day situations - like bonding with his superhero father, adjusting to a team environment, and coping with what might be perceived as a growing rivalry between himself and another teen super. On top of all that, despite having a serious girlfriend, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to a new female super he’s just met.

At the same time, some villain has just gotten himself a new toy: an unknown weapon of tremendous power that is able to strike without warning. It quickly becomes clear that the only way to stop this new evil is from within.

©2013 Kevin Hardman (P)2018 Kevin Hardman

Puberty and Superpowers

Ok, this is a coming of age story, and my headline might have been a little misleading, but Sensation is about a young man struggling to find his place in the world. Given that he has super powers that makes his task a little harder than most.

The book is a great straight forward good vs evil/ hero vs villain tale, but it really goes much deeper than that. It has, as Shrek would say, LAYERS. One might think that Kid Sensation is overpowered, but I really look at tis book as a text for what Superman would go through as a young man. I think a great point the first book makes is how he deals with rejection and being an outsider in a community that is already beyond regular humanity.

The action is great, and there is a mystery regarding a mole that will keep you guessing. Naramore does a great job narrating this book.

Book 2:

I generally start off with any perceived problems, and here are a couple: The book does start out a little slower than I'd have liked, but that is just set up and prep for the rest of th tale. There were a few parts that I had trouble understanding why things did or did not happen, such as when the kids were attacked. . . no one retaliated? Had one of those kids been mine then somebody would have been nibbling on their liver. Hardman seems to just be hitting his stride as a writer, as the book really picks up and gets to be fun and exciting. Any fan of superheroes would love this book.

Mikael Naramore does a great job narrating, he clearly puts his all into the process, and gives each character a unique voice, and their personalities shine through and apart from one another. This is a fun book, part 2 in a series, and you'll hope there are many more to come.

Book 3:

Hardman has continued to build up his heroic world. Kid Sensation is back in this third book. Naramore' narration, already great, has somehow continued to improve. I really think he is beginning to get into the swing of the series, and his enjoyment of the material really shows. The series itself is straitup popcorn chewing superheroics like you'd see on the big screen.

I do have one small nitpicky problem, and that is the way the story is set up. For the most part it seems very much like two seperate self-contained stories. They do tie together, but it just comes off like two short stories put together. Nothing wrong with that, I just think either idea could have been fleshed out into a full length tale to stand on their own. Hardman's writing is as fine and sharp as ever, and he is very aware that he might be writing for an audience that does not consist solely of adults, and he keeps it toned for a YA audience (just like most comic books). I would like to see Kid Sensation face a real rival of a villain later in the series, every hero needs a good nemesis.

Over all another top notch tale.

Get it, read it, love it.


This is a great book for Young Adults, my teens listened with me as we drove, and they really enjoyed the series. I really reccomend it for kids and adults, and fans of comic books or their movies will enjoy this set as well.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

awesome superheroes

This is a wonderful audiobook series narrated by Mikael Naramore, who does great voices for all of the characters in the Kid Sensation series and really brings that whole world alive for the listeners. Kevin Hardman's Kid Sensation series is a wonderful, action packed, suspenseful, full of surprises series that is awesome for middle graders and young adults, or anyone that likes superhero stories. The main character Jim, has it all, smarts, all kinds of super powers, but he is a teenager and thing don't always turn out the way he plans, sometimes that is good sometimes that is bad, it is a learning process even for superheroes.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

My kinda book!

Great listen if you stick with it. Book 1 was pretty slow but had a fantastic ending.

Just Good Fun

I've been drawn to series that involve super powers/LITRPG/Modern Fantasy as of late. This series fit that bill. Is it a great series? Not particularly, but it is a good one to listen to for just mellow enjoyment.

The main character is kind of ridiculously overpowered. Unfortunately, despite the author trying to portray him as some kind of genius, his shortcoming is a result of him thinking/acting like your typical teenager. For example, he tends to act before he thinks which results in a lot of moments where you want to palm your face. Nevertheless, overall it is still an enjoyable series to just sit back and listen while going about your business. Mikael Naramore does well as a narrator, though his range for character voices could be a little more varied. But I can't talk since I doubt I can do any better. If it was 1 credit for each book individually, I probably wouldn't recommend it. However, it is 1 for 3, so it's a good purchase.

Overpowered main character

Would have been great without kid sensation. Hero's had to be incompetent for kid not to instantly solve every problem with his huge list of powers.

main character is too powerful

also "neadless to say" way overused but story didn't suck. antagonists could have been developed more towards the end.