For young readers ages six to eight comes The Gumazing Gum Girl: Gum Luck, the second book in the series. Following the adventure from the first book, Chews Your Destiny, kids can catch up with the stickiest superhero in the world.
Gabby Gomez is your typical elementary school student except for one thing: When she chews gum she turns into Gum Girl! Now a media sensation, she captures the attention of a burned chef whose career was ruined when he tripped after stepping in gum and spilt a cake on a TV cooking show. With his new giant robot, he plans to rob a bank and Gum Girl is the only one who can stop him!
Gum Girl is a fun character and I love that she is latino. The book features illustrations on every single page and while some pages are text-heavy (in bold early-reader print), most of the time there are comic bubbles. Gabby and her family interject some Spanish into their conversations, making this series mildly educational.
Gabby’s father is a dentist and this story features a cavity subplot. Gabby is actually not allowed to chew gum by her parents, so she has to sneak it in order to activate her superpower. A cute element of the story is that she carries a jar of peanut butter in her backpack so she can transform back into her normal self.
Illustrator Rhode Montijo has a really cute style that is somewhat reminiscent of The Power Puff Girls. The book uses only two colors, pink and purple, making it feel like some of the early Dr. Seuss illustrations. Another delightful surprise is that the dust jacked features a scratch and sniff Gum Girl that smells like bubble gum.
The Gumazing Gum Girl: Gum Luck gives early readers a fun superhero adventure and a great role model in Gabby Gomez. It’s full of great lessons about dental hygiene, anti-bullying, and doing the right thing. This series is sure to be a hit and the final page promises a third book at some point in the future.