Gum Girl!, Book 1: Chews Your Destiny

Chews Your Destiny by Rhode Montijo is about Gabby Gomez a young girl in love with chewing bubble gum. While Gabby loves gum, her parents do not. So, one day her mom forbids Gabby to chew anymore bubblegum, but Gabby cannot resist. In her pocket she has a gumball and on the way to school, she chews it. But this gum wasn’t ordinary gum, it was the gum that turned Gabby into a superhero, it turned her into Gum Girl! Gabby then begins her adventures helping people as Gum Girl; however, she has to keep her identity a secret from her parents, which makes the situations she gets into a whole lot stickier than any piece of gum she’s chewed before. Along with hiding her identity from her parents, Gabby has to deal with her nemesis from school, Natalie.  Natalie, who looked like Harold from Hey Arnold, was gross, especially in a scene involving a booger. Despite the unhygienic Natalie, this book reminded me of a type of Captain Underpants style of book for young girls. I liked this book, loved the illustrations and I look forward to reading more about Gaby’s adventures.

Mighty Alice Goes Round and Round: A Cul de Sac Book

“Mighty Alice” centers around a girl, Alice, as she navigates through aspects of her four-year old life. The book covers everything from Halloween, to haircuts and her preschool class. This was the first book I read by Richard Thompson and I loved it! Alice and her friends were hilarious! The story made me think of my own family, like the way Alice and her brother Petey spoke. Their conversations made me laugh because I could picture my nephews saying the same type of unusual statements. They say the oddest things to us, and I enjoyed how Alice was filled with the same type of whimsy. I feel as though that is sometimes lost in novels when adults write from a child’s point of view. So I appreciated the tone of the novel. Also, I want to be a preschool teacher so I loved when Alice and her friends poked fun at their preschool’s curriculum. It made my day!  I could see the way lessons can sometimes feel condescending to the students, which made me rethink the way I plan on presenting lessons. I think what I liked most about this book though, was that it was fun, just plain fun. The comic strips were entertaining, funny and enjoyable for all. I can’t wait to read more by Thompson!