THE SECRET SUPER POWERS OF MARCO

Marco's new neighborhood may be better than his old one, though it still has its share of abandoned buildings, addicts, and homeless people—but he's left his friends behind, and the summer before fourth grade is shaping up to be a lonely one. He entertains himself by breaking off car antennas until, in a visionary moment, he realizes that he has Powers—he can talk to anyone without fear, and also visualize what's about to happen. Both come in handy—in converting Tyrone, a hostile classmate, from bully to friend; in preventing Tyrone from injuring a potentially violent homeless man; and when Marco figures out that Tyrone is stealing from his Uncle Albert's grocery, where they both work, and engineers a second chance for him. Though Willis's writing sometimes lacks grace (Tyrone is introduced as a mainstreamed ``hyper'' and the homeless man, Crazy Wee-wee, as an ex-``hippy''), and her characters are young for the book's probable audience, she makes a promising debut with this tale of a clever young peacemaker in a rough neighborhood. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 10-12)