A review by lalanier
Lowriders to the Center of the Earth by Cathy Camper
5.0
Meant to read book one first, but things didn't pan out that way. Anywho, this was a much cooler than I could have imagined. The writing was fun and told a solid story for how a missing cat results in the team having to go to the center of the earth. Lowriders in Space #2 has a great balance of being fun for kids while still entertaining for adults. And if you're a fan of puns, there are some to make you smile or laugh.
I especially loved how Camper and Raúl the Third chose to blend aspects of Lowrider and Aztec culture and the cameos from other Mexican/Latin American folklore. The interspersing of Spanish phrasing and expressions with English conversation was a nice touch, and not only did they have footnotes of translation, there's a glossary in the back. So, no matter your level of familiarity you'd be able to easily understand what was said. And even if they left out the footnotes the illustrations provided helpful context.
Speaking of illustrations I found them wonderful. They made me think of when I used to doodle in notebooks in school because of the line work and prevalent hatching style, but obviously of higher quality and done beautifully. The whole book makes for a great graphic novel, even the page quality and coloring which complimented Raúl's color scheme perfectly. His style just really fit the vibe of the story and also reminded me of some of the older cartoons I used to watch. I definitely plan on reading the first book, and hope that more books are in the works because this is a good series for kids and I'd love to see where the Lowriders go next.
I especially loved how Camper and Raúl the Third chose to blend aspects of Lowrider and Aztec culture and the cameos from other Mexican/Latin American folklore. The interspersing of Spanish phrasing and expressions with English conversation was a nice touch, and not only did they have footnotes of translation, there's a glossary in the back. So, no matter your level of familiarity you'd be able to easily understand what was said. And even if they left out the footnotes the illustrations provided helpful context.
Speaking of illustrations I found them wonderful. They made me think of when I used to doodle in notebooks in school because of the line work and prevalent hatching style, but obviously of higher quality and done beautifully. The whole book makes for a great graphic novel, even the page quality and coloring which complimented Raúl's color scheme perfectly. His style just really fit the vibe of the story and also reminded me of some of the older cartoons I used to watch. I definitely plan on reading the first book, and hope that more books are in the works because this is a good series for kids and I'd love to see where the Lowriders go next.