Recent Reads: Lowriders in Space by Cathy Camper

Lowriders in Space by Cathy Camper 
Illustrated by Raul (The Third) Gonzalez 
Series: Lowriders in Space Book 1
Publisher:  Chronicle Books
Publication Date:  November 4, 2014

 

Format: Paperback ARC
Source: From Chronicle Books in exchange for an honest review. This in no way effects my opinion or review of the book.

Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

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.

Review:
Lowriders in Space is a middle grade graphic novel about Spanish culture, cars and space. In the advanced copy that I received, the illustrations were only in black, white, and grey but I am told that the final version will be in full color – either way the drawing was a wonderful sketched style. The characters included a fox hybrid, a mosquito, and an octopus. It was a fund but strange tale about how these three friends want to open their own car shop and find that if they enter and win a car show they will have enough money to do so. The novel is about just that, finding the car, fixing it up, and the car show – only that is not all. It turns out that their car is so amazing it can go into space, and they do.

I think this is a wonderful graphic novel for kids. The story was cute and the whole book is interspersed with Spanish and a lot of cultural references. I thought they were interesting although maybe at times a little too stereotypical. Overall this was a quick read, the illustrations were marvelous and it was a lot of fun to read.