ChupaCarter

July 1, 2022
Having a 7-foot-tall blood-sucking secret friend understandably complicates 12-year-old Jorge's life. To kick off their middle-grade series, celebrity comedian Lopez and his co-author Calejo send young Chicano Angeleno Jorge Lopez to his abuelos in remotest New Mexico--where, as if being threatened by his new school's deranged White principal in an office festooned with animal trophies isn't scary enough, he stumbles on a toothy and terrifying monster in the local woods. Carter, as the cryptid introduces himself, turns out to be just a lonely young chupacabra separated from his family and hiding out from both human hunters and also a questing pack of vicious vampire dogs called dips. In a narrative punctuated with wisecracks and flavored with Spanish phrases and slang, Jorge's struggles with his own tendency to respond smartly to taunts and bullying parallel strenuous efforts to keep his new friend's existence secret. His failure at both (though by the end he does seem a little better at impulse control) drives a plot laden with both comical situations and hair-raising brushes with death...including no less than two near misses for Jorge from the aforementioned school official. By the end, though, Carter has been bundled off to safety in Mexico, and Jorge has two staunch allies at school in vegan activist Liza, who reads as Black, and Ernie, identified as Native American. Dialogue and punchlines spill over into Guti�rrez's droll illustrations. Frights and fun in equal measure. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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August 8, 2022
After getting into trouble one too many times, sarcastic (“Your smart mouth just bought you a one-way ticket to detention,” his previous principal used to say) Chicano Jorge Lopez, 12, is sent to live with his abuelos in a “dusty, deserted, desert-y armpit of a town in the middle of Nowheresville, New Mexico.” He doesn’t love anything about his new life, especially not his “snooty-falooty private school” or his white, bombastic, hunting-enthusiast principal, until he befriends woods-dwelling chupacabra Carter, a blood-drinking humanoid creature. Carter has been hiding from mortal hunters and folkloric vampire dogs after being separated from his family, and Jorge promises to keep him safe. But as the hunters close in on the duo, Jorge enlists two of his classmates—Star Trek fan Ernie, who is Native American, and Black, vegan, “uber smart” Liza—to get Carter to safety. Gutierrez’s (The Garden Plot) lively b&w illustrations expertly render Jorge and Carter’s occasionally over-the-top, adrenaline-filled adventures. Actor/comedian Lopez and Calejo (the Charlie Hernández series) offer a rollicking tale brimming with Latinx folklore and culture about finding one’s home in the unlikeliest of places that never takes itself too seriously. Ages 8–12.

September 1, 2022

Gr 5 Up-Readers meet Jorge while he is sitting on his roof, stewing over how his mom sent him to live with his grandparents in New Mexico. Jorge is not looking forward to starting a new school, and his first day does not go well after he tries to help another student but finds himself on the wrong side of the principal. Later that day, Jorge ends up saving a chupacabra, Carter, from the principal after Carter saves him from almost being hit by the principal's car. The two become fast friends. Jorge gets Carter blood (chupacabras are mythical creatures known for killing livestock) and they talk about their lives. Jorge also befriends two kids at school, Liza and Ernie, and introduces them to Carter. Carter eventually has to leave because there are real monsters and principal hunting for him. This novel has humorous moments. Jorge is a kid who tends to act before he thinks, which is how he ends up living with his grandparents. He has trouble taking responsibility for his actions but is shown to have a good heart when he speaks up for Ernie and helps Carter. Jorge and his friends do not sound like typical kids, using dated vocabulary (chillax, dweeb). Jorge is fleshed out a little by the end, but most of the characters are superficial. While there is some good and gross humor, the language is a little more advanced than one would expect, which may make some scenes not land as well as they should. There are also some dated references such as Speedy Gonzales and Caspar the Friendly Ghost that intended readers might not get. VERDICT While there are funny moments in this fantasy-infused tale, this is an additional purchase.-Michelle Lettus

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