Lowriders in Space (Lowriders #1)

by Cathy Camper (Author) Raul The Third Raul the Third (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Series: Lowriders

Lupe Impala, El Chavo Flapjack, and Elirio Malaria love working with cars. You name it, they can fix it.

But the team's favorite cars of all are lowriders--cars that hip and hop, dip and drop, go low and slow, bajito y suavecito.

The stars align when a contest for the best car around offers a prize of a trunkful of cash--just what the team needs to open their own shop! ¡Ay chihuahua! What will it take to transform a junker into the best car in the universe?

Striking, unparalleled art from debut illustrator Raul the Third recalls ballpoint-pen-and-Sharpie desk-drawn doodles, while the story is sketched with Spanish, inked with science facts, and colored with true friendship.

With a glossary at the back to provide definitions for Spanish and science terms, this delightful book will educate and entertain in equal measure.

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Kirkus

Starred Review
A highly entertaining and culturally authentic romp.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8--Camper introduces readers to Lupe Impala, Flapjack Octopus, and Elirio Malaria, three friends who love working with cars and dream of having their own garage shop. One day they see an opportunity to achieve their goal--a car competition where the prize is a "carload of cash and a solid gold steering wheel." When they start working on a lowrider to prepare it for the competition, an out-of-this world journey begins. Through anthropomorphic characters, the author narrates a tale of friendship, teamwork, and the passion for lowriding. She incorporates astronomy to this adventure, providing readers the opportunity to familiarize with terms from both worlds. Raul the Third's colored pencil-and-marker illustrations effectively depict images from the lowriding subculture, while including references from Mexican pop culture, such as the iconic comedian Cantiflas and Chespirito's El Chavo del Ocho. The way he alternates among full-page artwork, spreads, and non-rectangular panels works well with the story and strongly supports its visual understanding. However, although it is true that some Latinos code-switch in their conversation, the use of Spanish words didn't feel organic to the story. There is also inconsistency in the use of accents, and footnotes that point readers to phrases and word meanings are explained as "nonsense words in Spanish," when that's not necessarily the case. Lowriders in Space fills a gap of Latino graphic novels for kids, and its quirky characters and illustrations have the potential to engage children. Let's hope that future installments will have a more accurate and natural use of Spanish. A helpful glossary of astronomy and lowriding terms is appended.--Sujei Lugo, Somerville Public Library, MA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Camper's (Bugs Before Time) rocket-powered graphic novel stars a deliciously improbable trio: Lupe Impala, a beautiful mechanic with a mane of black hair and a limitless supply of automobile knowledge; Flapjack Octopus, whose eight arms can detail a car to a high gleam; and Elirio Malaria, a shady-looking mosquito who uses his needlelike proboscis to pinstripe cars with fantastic accuracy. Raul the Third's dazzling art, done with red, black, and blue ballpoint pen, fuses the energy of Mexican folk images, the naked passion of tattoo art, and the antics of Saturday morning cartoons. Lupe and her sidekicks want to start a garage, but they don't have enough money. They enter a car competition (first prize is "a carload of cash"), find a beater, and plot their strategy: "Y vamos a tener que echarle ganas, to clean it!" says Flapjack (Spanish translations are provided throughout). A wild journey through space gives their car one-of-a-kind galactic magic—readers will rejoice in their triumph. As a celebration of Latino lowrider culture, too, it's estellar. Ages 8-12. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Nov.)

Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Cathy Camper
Cathy Camper is the author of several books, including the Lowriders series, each book of which can be read as a stand-alone title. A graduate of VONA/Voices writing workshops for people of color, Cathy works as a librarian in Portland, Oregon, where she does outreach to schools and kids in grades K-12.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781452128696
Lexile Measure
430
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Chronicle Books
Publication date
November 04, 2014
Series
Lowriders
BISAC categories
CGN006000 - Comics & Graphic Novels | Literary
Library of Congress categories
Friendship
Graphic novels
Comic books, strips, etc
Mexican Americans
Competition (Psychology)
Lowriders
Americas Award for Children & Young Adult Literature - Commended
Black-Eyed Susan Award - Nominee
Parents Choice Awards (Spring) (2008-Up) - Approved

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