You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
A fun, heavily illustrated novel starring a young Latina who has a run-in with some electricity and chewing gum, resulting of course in super powers. This would make a great early chapter book for a comic fan as it has just the right amount of humor and fantasy balanced by familiarity. The moral wasn't too heavy-handed and I'm excited for the sequel.
abby Gomez LOVES bubble gum. She will chew it any time, anywhere, much to her mother (and dentist father!)’s chagrin. Gabby also gets her gum all over everything, which makes a huge mess! Gabby’s mom lays down the law and tells her NO MORE GUM, which really doesn’t work for Gabby, who sneaks a little piece on the way to school one day. What’s one little piece, right? She blows a bubble – the biggest bubble EVER – and it pops all over her! How is she supposed to go to school, looking like this? But wait! Someone needs help! Gabby answers the call, and discovers that she’s been transformed into The Gumazing Gum Girl, a superheroine with super sticky, super stretchy, bubble gum powers! Now, she just needs to keep enough peanut butter on hand to help her get all the gum off and transform back into Gabby, before her family finds out!
The Gumazing Gum Girl is too much fun! She’s a superhero for intermediate and middle grade readers, adorably written and drawn by Rhode Montijo, who creates a graphic novel/chapter book hybrid that kids love. Kids will love her Latinx family, who lovingly speak Spanglish to one another, and they’ll love how the seemingly ordinary power of bubble gum transforms a girl into a superheroine. Plus, they’ll see that Gabby is a good kid, who struggles with keeping a secret from her parents: her superpowers come from her breaking the rules and chewing gum. There are fun villains and the art is super kid-friendly; combinations of pink, black and white, with bold lines and expressive fonts will catch and hold any reader’s attention.
When I was at ALA Midwinter last month, I found myself lucky enough to get hold of the NEXT Gum Girl Adventure: Gum Luck! A colleague shrieked when she saw me with it (and she does collection development for my library system, so, whoo hoo!), and another colleague read it the day I got back to the library after Midwinter. To say this is an anticipated sequel is putting it mildly.
The Gumazing Gum Girl is too much fun! She’s a superhero for intermediate and middle grade readers, adorably written and drawn by Rhode Montijo, who creates a graphic novel/chapter book hybrid that kids love. Kids will love her Latinx family, who lovingly speak Spanglish to one another, and they’ll love how the seemingly ordinary power of bubble gum transforms a girl into a superheroine. Plus, they’ll see that Gabby is a good kid, who struggles with keeping a secret from her parents: her superpowers come from her breaking the rules and chewing gum. There are fun villains and the art is super kid-friendly; combinations of pink, black and white, with bold lines and expressive fonts will catch and hold any reader’s attention.
When I was at ALA Midwinter last month, I found myself lucky enough to get hold of the NEXT Gum Girl Adventure: Gum Luck! A colleague shrieked when she saw me with it (and she does collection development for my library system, so, whoo hoo!), and another colleague read it the day I got back to the library after Midwinter. To say this is an anticipated sequel is putting it mildly.
This one was cute. I read it to my 5-year-old and she loved it. :)
Cute fun illustra-hybrid for younger kids. SUPER like that he integrates Spanish vocab into the story (yay for nonwhite protagonists!).
Story itself is not particularly inventive, but it's a fun little romp. And the cover is super strong, so random people keep picking it up off my desk. And a book that begs to be picked up that bad gets my vote, even though, personally, I ultimately found it fairly forgettable.
Update Summer 2015:
Promoted this book as part of my school outreach visits this May/June, and the kids went nuts. That may have had to do with the fact that I started my visits by asking if they liked bubblegum. ;) Anyway, we haven't been able to keep it on the shelf, even though my system has seven copies. Can't wait for the second one!
Pro Review:
What could you do with a bubble-gum-related superpower? Gabby Gomez is walking down the street, minding her own business, blowing the biggest bubble-gum-bubble ever, when she finds out. This early chapter book will appeal to the hybrid readers and bridge book lovers alike. Montijo uses black, white, and pink to illustrate, and writes a superhero story relatable to everybody. He incorporates Gabby’s culture, sprinkling Spanish words and phrases into the dialog. A sure-fire winner, the main drawback to this title is is that there are only a couple of books in the series. Highly recommended for libraries serving elementary audiences.
Story itself is not particularly inventive, but it's a fun little romp. And the cover is super strong, so random people keep picking it up off my desk. And a book that begs to be picked up that bad gets my vote, even though, personally, I ultimately found it fairly forgettable.
Update Summer 2015:
Promoted this book as part of my school outreach visits this May/June, and the kids went nuts. That may have had to do with the fact that I started my visits by asking if they liked bubblegum. ;) Anyway, we haven't been able to keep it on the shelf, even though my system has seven copies. Can't wait for the second one!
Pro Review:
What could you do with a bubble-gum-related superpower? Gabby Gomez is walking down the street, minding her own business, blowing the biggest bubble-gum-bubble ever, when she finds out. This early chapter book will appeal to the hybrid readers and bridge book lovers alike. Montijo uses black, white, and pink to illustrate, and writes a superhero story relatable to everybody. He incorporates Gabby’s culture, sprinkling Spanish words and phrases into the dialog. A sure-fire winner, the main drawback to this title is is that there are only a couple of books in the series. Highly recommended for libraries serving elementary audiences.
Title: Gum Girl! Chews Your Destiny #1
Author: Rhode Montijo
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Copy: Netgalley
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Review: Gum Girl! is a light-hearted and fun middle grade comic. I am happy to find books like this that are simple enough for beginning chapter book readers, but are more interesting than a controlled vocabulary reading practice book. The format of the book is a combination of narrative paragraphs mixed with comics. It reminds me of the Frankie Pickle series in that way. The first page technically has three paragraphs, but then the next eight pages only have four sentences all together. For the student just venturing in to the chapter book section, it is a little less intimidating because it has 130 pages, but the comic type illustrations break up the text.
The premise of the story is interesting, but not developed very much. Gabby's super-powers are used, but the situations where they are required are all very short episodes. This book seems to be laying the groundwork for more in-depth capers in the future.
Some of the pictures are pretty hilarious like the scene in the barbershop where Gabby continues to blow her bubblegum in spite of the flurry of hair. These types of illustrations make the book a lot of fun. I also appreciated the inclusion of some Spanish. It is done in a very natural way and there are plenty of context clues so readers won't miss out on what is being said. The book was unique, but not overwhelmingly so. I think students will enjoy it, but the future stories will need to be more developed with specific "bad guys" or crimes to solve, or the series won't last.
Original review at http://readingtl.blogspot.com/2013/06/reivew-gum-girl-chews-your-destiny-1.html
Author: Rhode Montijo
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Copy: Netgalley
Release Date: June 4, 2013
Review: Gum Girl! is a light-hearted and fun middle grade comic. I am happy to find books like this that are simple enough for beginning chapter book readers, but are more interesting than a controlled vocabulary reading practice book. The format of the book is a combination of narrative paragraphs mixed with comics. It reminds me of the Frankie Pickle series in that way. The first page technically has three paragraphs, but then the next eight pages only have four sentences all together. For the student just venturing in to the chapter book section, it is a little less intimidating because it has 130 pages, but the comic type illustrations break up the text.
The premise of the story is interesting, but not developed very much. Gabby's super-powers are used, but the situations where they are required are all very short episodes. This book seems to be laying the groundwork for more in-depth capers in the future.
Some of the pictures are pretty hilarious like the scene in the barbershop where Gabby continues to blow her bubblegum in spite of the flurry of hair. These types of illustrations make the book a lot of fun. I also appreciated the inclusion of some Spanish. It is done in a very natural way and there are plenty of context clues so readers won't miss out on what is being said. The book was unique, but not overwhelmingly so. I think students will enjoy it, but the future stories will need to be more developed with specific "bad guys" or crimes to solve, or the series won't last.
Original review at http://readingtl.blogspot.com/2013/06/reivew-gum-girl-chews-your-destiny-1.html
This is a cute book for kids who love graphic novels, but also want the feel of a chapter book. My 3rd grader loved it and can’t wait to read the 2nd one.
My kids loved this book. We enjoyed that this was a story featuring a little girl super hero. As a mother, I appreciated that the main character recognized that her many good deeds did not make lying to her parents okay.
A girl who LOVES to chew gum is forbidden to do so by her mother - after she wakes up with gum in her hair. But she CAN'T resist one more chew, and after blowing an immense bubble, ends up covered in pink goo. However, she discovers that the bubble pop also has given her stretchy super powers. She wants to use her superpowers to help people, but that will mean disobeying her mom and chewing gum. Something about this story (perhaps the lying/disobeying?) rubbed me the wrong way.