This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

As a teenage Wonder Woman imagined what it would be like to make friends at her new school for superheroes, warmth washed over her.

Watching a video message from Principal Amanda "The Wall" Waller, espousing her school's greatness, a lump formed in Wonder Woman's throat and tears came to her eyes. She'd been accepted into Super Hero High.

Likewise, DC Entertainment — the company that owns the likes of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman — is beckoning more young girls into its vibrant, heroic universe. Enter "DC Superhero Girls," a line of toys, online cartoons, comics and a series of middle-grade novels, the first of which debuted from Random House on Tuesday: "Wonder Woman at Super Hero High."

The book, by Lisa Yee, swiftly and comfortably introduces the colorful world of DC's superheroes. In this reimagining, the powerful characters are fledging teenagers at a specialized school for those who aspire to save the world.

Heroism is a tall order to live up to. But the new kid, Wonder Woman, has even more expectations heaped on her young warrior princess shoulders. Her royal mother is literally a legend. Putting her under even more scrutiny, Wonder Woman's schooling becomes the constant focus of the local press and her roommate Harley Quinn's ever-present video camera. If that weren't enough, a bully is sending her cryptic messages to tear her down and make her question her place at the school.

No one said being a superhero would be easy, but all of that pressure gives weight and tension to every scene. When Wonder Woman crashes during her first flight class, the failure stings worse to her — and the reader — than just a bad grade.

Over the course of the book's brisk chapters, Yee challenges Wonder Woman to become the hero she's destined to be.

Once upon a time, Yee wanted to be that hero.

Growing up, her superheroes saved the day at the same Bat-time, same Bat-channel. Batman "was everything," and she was convinced she was going to marry Robin. But in 1975, when Lynda Carter debuted as the superpowered Wonder Woman, Yee said, "I stopped thinking about wanting to marry Robin and started thinking: I want to be Wonder Woman."

Now, Yee said she hopes to do the same for a new generation of girls. The superhero genre has had a rocky history with female representation, from sexism in comic books to underrepresentation in film adaptations. But DC hopes to help turn that around with "DC Superhero Girls."

First and foremost, the creative teams behind the line "talked to girls," said Tania Missad, consumer insights director for Mattel, at New York Comic Con last October. "We wanted to find out from girls what they wanted out of superheroes." Almost all of them said that there weren't enough superheroes for girls.

"This is the time. It's overdue, but I think everybody is primed for this," Yee told The Tribune. "And what I don't understand is why this didn't happen a long time ago, but I'm so glad that it's happening now and that I'm able to be a part of it."

When Yee found out she'd been picked to write the series, beginning with Wonder Woman, she was so excited she started screaming.

"It had become a dream come true," she said.

Though already familiar with Wonder Woman, Yee — as she always does with her books — dived into research. There's a Mount Olympus-size library of "Wonder Woman" comics and television adaptations, dating back to her comic-book debut in 1941.

At New York Comic Con, Lee fielded questions about what form the Amazonian princess and her fellow heroes would take, given their respective histories. As an analogy, Lee asked the room if they knew what the moon looks like; though everyone raised their hands, Lee said that "we all have different interpretations of that moon, and that's how I approach these characters. We all know who they are, but this is going to be one interpretation."

After all, in the course of almost 75 years, there have been a lot of incarnations of the superhero, as different writers and artists reinterpret the character.

Yee's Wonder Woman is self-assured and a natural-born leader. But she's still young, and after spending her whole life on the isolated Paradise Island with her fellow Amazons, she takes her first real step into the outside world when she walks (or rather, flies) into Super Hero High.

"So she's kind of naive, in that sense," Yee said. "If you take a person, whether they're a superhero or not, and you take them out of everything they've grown up with, that they've known and loved, and you put them in a new situation, it's going to be odd."

Wonder Woman is barely through the front door when she initially mistakes a handshake as an attack from a boy — the first she's ever met, since Paradise Island is exclusively female. Even after she learns what a handshake is, she doesn't know her strength. (In a humorous moment later, the nurse's office is packed with students with sore right hands.)

"These teens are not in full control of their powers yet. That's why they're going to Super Hero High," Yee said.

That especially goes for Supergirl, the lead hero of the second, upcoming book in the series. On her home planet of Krypton, Supergirl didn't have any powers. But after the planet explodes and her parents send her on a rocket to Earth, our yellow sun imbues her with newfound gifts like flight, superstrength and the ability to shoot lasers from her eyes.

It's chaos for Supergirl, at first. While Wonder Woman always knew she was born to be a warrior princess, Supergirl has had her powers and potential destiny thrust upon her. While testing out her laser vision near a cornfield, the kernels explode and a shower of popcorn rains from the sky.

Underneath all of the dazzling powers, like Wonder Woman, there's an emotional core to Supergirl that Yee was excited to explore. When Yee queried her Facebook followers about what one word they would use to describe Supergirl, people came up with "strength" or "flight"; but to Yee, the one word is "lonely."

Unlike her cousin Superman, who came to Earth as a baby, Supergirl had a life before Krypton exploded. She knew her parents and her home — and now that's gone.

"She's dealing with grief at the same time she's being Supergirl, and so that's got to be really hard to deal with," Yee said. "And she's got this really great, upbeat personality and she wants everyone to like her. In fact, she needs everyone to like her, for her well-being. So she's perhaps overly friendly and overly helpful at times."

Supergirl's entry in the series will arrive July 5, and Yee is already starting to write the next "Super Hero High" book — and planning the fourth. A free comic book about the high-school superheroines is also planned to debut May 7 for Free Comic Book Day. A fun world of superheroes is opening its doors to a new generation.

Twitter: @MikeyPanda —

By Lisa Yee

Random House Books for Young Readers (8 -12 years)

Pages • 240

Cost • $13.99