Review by New York Times Review
LIKE A BAD HAIRCUT, the Word "alien" has affixed itself to the popular perception of what it means to be Latino in the United States. To the unworldly, the average working person of Latin American descent looks like an "illegal alien." For decades Latino comedians have been making satirical commentary on the absurdity (and cruelty) of using the same word to describe people with Spanish surnames and slimy creatures from other worlds, and now William Alexander has given us a middle-grade novel that stretches out the joke for an entire book. Alexander, who won a National Book Award for his 2012 novel "Goblin Secrets," merges the fantastic with the everyday to create an engaging and smart allegory about the hurt and strangeness of the modern immigrant condition. In "Ambassador," an 11-year -old Mexican-American boy from Minneapolis is thrust into an intergalactic drama when a shape -shifting blob from outer space appears in his basement. The creature is an alien (in the cosmic sense) known as "the Envoy." He's come to appoint Gabe Fuentes an ambassador for the entire human race. The Envoy creates a portal inside Gabe's clothes dryer; it allows him to travel between the universe's dimensions via his dreams. Gabe journeys to an intergalactic embassy where he meets ambassadors from other worlds. He must use his wiles and his naturally diplomatic disposition (he's grown up with three feisty siblings) to protect Earth. Gabe is also trying to keep his family together: The authorities back on Earth haul off his Mexican-born father to an immigration detention center. It turns out every member of Gabe's family save Gabe himself is a deportable "alien" (in the legal sense). "I'm the ambassador of this entire world," Gabe thinks. "But nobody here knows that. I can talk to aliens thousands of light years away, but we'll need to scramble for cash so I can keep talking to Dad by phone." One of the most realistic things about "Ambassador" is the way the Fuentes family's immigration problems completely sneak up on Gabe. The arrival of the Envoy is fantastic and perplexing; but his father's immigration problems are even more jarring and unexpected. Once the news settles in, Gabe finds that a lot of things about his family suddenly make sense, including his sister's irritable attitude, and his father's obsession with improbable emergencies. "Mom and Dad never wanted to worry your poor, innocent little brain, but it's absolutely stupid that we've never talked about this," his sister tells him. Immigration reform has been delayed so long, even a seemingly settled middle-class family can have a metaphorical alien in the basement. It's a painful truth of our time, and it's now told in a story that will speak to young readers. "Lowriders in Space," a graphic novel written by Cathy Camper and illustrated by Raúl the Third, takes readers on a journey with Latino characters into the cosmos. An antelope, a mosquito and an octopus live in the American Southwest. Each is obsessed with vintage cars: the antelope (Lupe Impala) is a master mechanic; the mosquito (Elirio Malaria) is a detail artist; and the octopus (Flapjack) an expert polisher. They dream of owning a car garage, and enter a competition for the best customized lowrider. It's a fanciful story wonderfully illustrated by Raúl the Third's black, red and blue comic-book style drawings. The three friends outfit a lowrider with spare rocket parts, and blast off. Comets, planets and stars stylize the car for them. "Want to cruise around the sun?... It's plating the underside and bumpers in solar chrome!" one character says. To which Lupe exclaims "¡Caliente!" An asterisk and a box provide a translation of that Spanish word: "Hot!" In fact, just about every Spanish-origin word has a footnoted translation, even words like "jefe" and "barrio" that appear in many English dictionaries. This unnecessary and distracting detail "others" the very culture the book is meant to celebrate, making it feel like a children's glossary of hipster Spanish. Spanish words are entering American English much as Yiddish and Italian words once did. In many corners of the United States, the locals now say "Vámonos" when they mean "Let's go," just like the characters in "Lowriders" do. And there's nothing alien about that. HÉCTOR TOBAR'S most recent book is "Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free." Spanish words are entering American English as Yiddish words once did.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 2, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
Lupe Impala, El Chavo Flapjack, and Elirio Malaria love fixing up cars together, but they are tired of working for tough old el jefe, so when they see an ad for a universal car competition including a category for ranflas (lowriders), their favorite kind of car they get busy fixing up the hunk of junk in their yard so they can win the contest and open their own garage. It's slow going until they stumble on some old plane-engine parts, and then things really start flying when, ¡que chido!, their rocket-powered car zips into space for a stellar detailing job. Raúl's snazzy panels impressively drawn in only red, blue, and black ballpoint pen on tea-stained paper resemble an amped-up Mighty Mouse cartoon rendered in anarchic yet skillful doodles. It's a joyfully explosive style, and it perfectly matches the Latino characters and barrio setting. Camper sprinkles Spanish slang throughout (all defined in a glossary at the end) and closes with a note about the development of lowriders by Mexican Americans in Southern California after WWII. ¡Estellar!--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly 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. Raúl 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 PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Camper's lighthearted, full-color graphic novel highlights lowrider culture. There is much that makes it stand out: Its theme is unique for this age group; Lupe Impala, the female protagonist, is a mechanic; and peppered throughout this crazy adventure are nifty factoids and colorful Chicano/Mexican-American slang. Lupe and her friends Elirio Malaria, the mosquito detailing artist ("Don't be scared eses! Only lady mosquitos bite vatos for food!"), and El Chavo Blackjack, a bucket-dwelling octopus who's an eight-armed, car-washing powerhouse, dream of one day owning their own garage. Spotting a poster for a car competition, they know the Golden Steering Wheel Award and a carload of cash are as good as theirsif they can find a car. A field trip yields a junk pile on blocksan Impala, natchthat "only" needs major, reconstructive body work, paint, an engine.Some serendipitous rocket parts launch the trio and their newly souped-up lowrider on a wild ride through space: "I don't think we're in the barrio anymore!" observes El Chavo Flapjack cheerily. Ral the Third's crosshatched, ballpoint-pen-and-Sharpie artwork is highly detailed and dynamic, its black, blue and red lines on buff-colored paper depicting a street corner aguas frescas pushcart and the lowrider's hydraulic suspension system with equal verve. A glossary of Spanish, slang and astronomical terms is appended, as is a note about lowriders for readers not in the know. A highly entertaining and culturally authentic romp. (Graphic adventure. 9-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
