One thing I wanted to ask, how old is Tom?
PM: Thomis probably , you know I’ve never actually been asked exactly how old he is. He is finishing up his last year in High School, so I guess that would land him around 17 or 18. J: Okay, ’cause I was relating him with Peter Parker. PM: Oh, yeah, there’s that. I mean there’s certainly that sense that he’s supposed to be anyone can relate with him. He’s sort of struggling with awkwardness of youth and that young people aren’t stupid I think like most adults think or talk down to them and that all those differences you feel this is an outsider when you’re a teen. You capture that and embrace it, that it actually empowers you and that’s sort of the message of the book whether you’re gay, straight, black, or white, young or old. J: Or, in Peter’s case, a nerd. PM: Yeah. J: So I did, one thing I noticed: Tom’s powers to heal people. That’s a soft power. PM: It sure is. Well, and if you read the book you find out his power as he evolves and learns who he is and learns to embrace who he is
