Mysteries of the Universe

5/15/2019

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez

"Do your worst, multiverse...I am ready for you."

It begins with a bully, a school locker, and a chicken. Oh. There’s one more thing...a hole in the universe. From the opening scene with a chicken in a school locker, Carlos Hernandez had me hooked.

Meet Sal Vidón recent transfer student to a magnet school for the arts. Sal is a performer, a magician who prides himself on his remarkable sleight of hand skills. He’s confident in his ability to maneuver his way out of difficult situations with his smarts, friendly outgoing personality, and pockets filled with magical illusions.

He will need all these when he matches wits with a no nonsense principal, the school bully, and student council/ school newspaper editor Gabi Reál.

Sal has Type I diabetes, which he handles matter-of-factly. It's part of his life and he is conscious of the importance of caring for himself, but he doesn't allow the condition to limit him.

Set in Miami, Cuban American culture infuses the story with humor, heart, and vitality.

"¿Qué eso?" said Calembe, who did that Cuban thing of smashing all the syllables in a sentence into one word. She made "What is that?" sound exactly like "Cheese?" in Spanish.

A very important figure in his life is Mami Muerta. When Sal was five years old, his beloved Mami died. Dad has remarried and American Stepmom is terrific. But sometimes Sal longs for his Mami. He has found a way to relax his mind, reach out into the multiverse and call up a version of his Mami. She arrives into his present, not quite the same as the mother he knew. But still, she's a substitute for the Miami he misses.

When you start moving between universes and bringing individuals from other worlds into your world, things are bound to get complicated. It becomes far more complicated when Gabi discovers how to travel with him. Strange things begin to happen. And it's a lot stranger than a chicken.

Woven into this fast-paced sci-fi adventure are some serious subjects: parental abuse, death, grief, moral responsibility and ethical dilemmas. These issues give the story depth but do overwhelm or monopolize the narrative. Hernandez maintains firm control of his story line. His true-to-life characters are are normal kids caught up in a fantastic world of calamitrons (traces from other universes), a human-like robot, and an entropy sweeper that whines "Wo is I" and scans for calamitrons. It’s an eclectic mix held together with Sal's brash big-hearted narration.

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe is like a sparkler atop an ice cream sundae: eye-popping adventure with a couple of cool, smooth kids. Best enjoyed while consuming a package of Skittles.

I'm not a brujo. I can just reach across universes and pull out chickens. It's science!

Magic Tricks

Sal wears clothing with a large number of pocket. Why? He keeps on hand a selection of magic tricks. Try filling your pockets with these portable tricks. Astonish your friends. Disarm stressful situations. Relax and enjoy the magical moments.