Maximilian and the Lucha Libre Club

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In Max’s third adventure, a family secret prompts him to join a club of other young adults who share the same unspoken connections—they are related to world famous luchadores. Fans of lucha libre will be excited to see 12-year-old Max follow in his family’s wrestling legacy and begin his own luchador career. Max hopes to be like his famous uncle, the Guardian Angel, but he’s a bit distracted with his two love interests, Cecilia and Paloma. Middle-grade readers will be captivated by Max’s story and Garza’s exciting descriptions of the wrestling matches. While the narrative clearly establishes that wrestling is a male dominated world, Garza makes sure to include strong luchadoras like Paloma and La Dama Enmascarda (The Masked Lady). Black-and-white drawings appear at the beginning of each chapter, effectively capturing Max’s emotions and setting the tone for upcoming plot developments. Another wonderful aspect of this story is that bilingual readers can follow the narrative in English on one page and read the Spanish translation on the next. This energetic follow-up to Maximilian and the Mystery of the Guardian Angel (2011), a Pura Belpré Honor Book, will be hard to wrestle from readers’ hands.

- December 28, 2016 Visit Website