Maximilian: The Lucha Libre Club by Xavier Garza
With the Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller series Garza brings the excitement of lucha libre to middle grade readers. Meet Maximilian, a young man living in a strong lucha libra family culture. Max's uncle is The Guardian Angel, a superstar luchadore. However fighting is not limited to luchadores. In one of the funniest scenes in the book, his aunts get into a heated disagreement at the hospital maternity ward, arguing as to whether the baby will be a boy or a girl. Sparring both in and out of the ring is in this family's blood. Max seems destined to carry on the family tradition. He joins a secret club for relatives of luchadores and wrestles with the possibility of becoming the next Guardian Angel. The series will appeal to young readers. It is packed with intense fight scenes, humor, and plenty of middle grade angst (Max has girlfriend issues). But here's the bonus: the book is bilingual, with the text alternating between English on even-numbered pages and Spanish on odd-numbered pages. These books can be enjoyed by those who are fluent in either language as well as those learning a second language. Maximilian and The Lucha Libra Club is the declared the winner! |