Handbook for Superheroes 1: The Manual/Handbok för superhjältar 1: Handboken

The Handbook for Superheroes is a series of books about a young female superhero by Elias and Agnes Våhlund. Both entertaining and with a serious message of boosting self-reliance, the series is easy to read and illustrated in contemporary cartoon style on every page. 

In the first story, Lisa, who lives with her grandmother and who is bullied at school, discovers the Handbook for Superheroes, a mysteriously uncatalogued book at her local library. Having read it and learned such essential superhero techniques as flying, fighting, talking to animals and having an exciting name, she becomes The Red Mask and discovers the confidence to daringly defeat a gang of thieves. Yet although she successfully completes her first mission, it seems as though she has only dreamed it. Everything goes back to normal, including the bullying at school. 

The first part of Handbook for Superheroes came out in 2017 and the series has since sold in over 1,5 million copies in Sweden alone. Abroad, the books have been translated into around 20 languages.