Review by Booklist Review
The seemingly indestructible and unbeatable Gum Girl is back to face another villain, while also enduring a terrible toothache from all the gum chewing. Call it her kryptonite. In this second book in the series, Gabby Gomez struggles with her secret superhero identity and whether to fess up to her parents, all the while fighting off a cartoonish chef-turned-villain. This series has a little bit of a monster-of-the-week vibe, as the very end of the book introduces the next villain she'll be facing, while wrapping up the chef's story. It also plays on traditional tropes of the hero having to save the school bully from harm, or the villain falling ironically for the same trick that contributed to their fall from grace. Simple cartoons with thick lines and flat coloring accompany a combination of chapter-book prose and a sprinkle of captions and word balloons. Any young fan of action-packed afternoon superhero cartoons will enjoy this series, which stars a mostly Latin cast. Get your awesome girl-versus-evil-robot action right here.--Pino, Kristina Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-With her new powers, Gabby Gomez finds herself constantly switching between her secret and real identities. As a result, she is having a hard time juggling everything she has going on. To top it off, Gabby has a cavity, she has yet to tell her gum-hating dentist dad about her secret identity, and she's running low on gum, since her brother got into her stash. Meanwhile, she has a new archnemesis, RoboChef. Scorned on public television for tripping over gum, he naturally hates Gum Girl and is bent on taking over the world. Can Gabby stop him before it's too late? Will she ever tell her parents about her secret identity? The illustrations in this book are detailed and comic book-like. The characters are fairly well developed for an early chapter book, and the humor adds depth to the story. The plot is unique and engaging. However, some attempts at inserting Spanglish are more successful than others. VERDICT Fans of superheroes, strong heroines, and comic books will love this title. Although readers don't necessarily need to have read the first book, Chews Your Destiny, it is recommended that they do so.-Kira Moody, Whitmore Public Library, Salt Lake City © Copyright 2017. 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
Gum Girl is back in this second adventure.Since her last adventures, Gum Girl (aka Gabby Gomez) has been celebrated as a hero by everyone. Everyone, that is, except the people who matter most: the members of her own loving, Latino family, who don't know she's Gum Girl! As Gabby get ready to reveal her secret identity, her dentist dad despairs about the tooth problems that Gum Girl's poor example will inspire. Poor Gabby's troubles worsenshe may have a cavity from all that gum! But even that's not the end of Gabby's problems: a gum-hating "mysterious masked man" is plotting to bring Gum Girl down. Meanwhile, when Gum Girl isn't busy saving the day, Gabby is busy running from white bully Natalie, whose depiction as a large girl disappoints. Many school-, cavity-, and gum-related adventures later, Gum Girl faces off with the "mysterious masked man" and his giant robot, which she, unsurprisingly, vanquishes. Most illustrations are black and white, with energetic, bubble-gum-pink accents. The plot is fairly shallow and sometimes ridiculous, but it is aware of at least some of that silliness, which perhaps redeems it a bit of the lack of depth. Short chapters and frequent, graphic novel-esque illustrations make this a shoo-in for reluctant readers, and the text is punctuated by the occasional italicized word in Spanish. Good, sticky fun. (Fantasy. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
