Lupe Lopez: Reading Rock Star!

by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, Pat Zietlow Miller, Joe Cepeda (Illustrator)

Overview

Learning to read is kind of a big deal, and Lupe Lopez has a lot to learn—in her own feisty way—to reach her goal of becoming a Reading Rock Star.

Famous at Hector P. Garcia Elementary for being the first kid in kindergarten to ever start a band, Lupe Lopez enters first grade seeking a new sort of fame. She’s ready to rock and roll straight into the role of Reading Rock Star! But despite her best efforts, the words she thought she knew—now grouped in sentences—only glare back at her. Stuck in Group A with the kids who can’t read, she becomes the object of a rival’s mockery. Will her beloved band, and her confidence, survive the sting of defeat? Leave it to Lupe to prove that the beat she feels when she taps her pencil isn’t so very different from words and sentences—and that a real rock star is someone who doesn’t give up. Featuring simple text laced with Spanish words, dynamic illustrations, and a reassuring theme, this sequel to Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules! will encourage fledgling readers to keep trying, even if they miss a beat or two.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536232127
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	06/13/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

e.E. Charlton-Trujillo is a filmmaker and coauthor of Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules! as well as the author of the award-winning young-adult novel Fat Angie and its sequels, Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution and Fat Angie: Homecoming. They live in Texas.


Pat Zietlow Miller is a coauthor of Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules! and the author of the New York Times best-selling Be Kind, illustrated by Jen Hill, and My Brother the Duck, illustrated by Daniel Wiseman, among many other books for young readers. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Joe Cepeda is an award-winning illustrator of more than thirty books for children, including Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules! Born and raised in East Los Angeles, he lives in Southern California.

The author/filmmaker deemed rockstar by the kids they meet won the prestigious Delacorte Dell Yearling Award and Parents Choice Silver Honor for Prizefighter En Mi Casa. Feels Like Home received critical praise, but it was Fat Angie that generated the New York Times best-selling author buzz from Gregory Maguire and Ellen Hopkins. Nominated for Best Fiction for Young Adults and the Rainbow List by YALSA, Fat Angie garnered starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and went on to win the 2014 American Library Association Stonewall Book Award. Traveling throughout America on an unconventional book tour, Charlton-Trujillo workshopped with at-risk youth in their communities at no cost to the programs. They created a feature documentary of the experience titled At-Risk Summer.

Editorial Reviews

Miniature rock star Lupe Lopez takes on her next big battle—reading! . . . A delightful romp, Lupe’s latest adventure leaps off the page with a “¡BOOM-TICA-BAM!” The authors bolster Lupe’s infectious sass even further, serving up the humorous melodrama that boosts her eventual comeback song. Hector P. Garcia Elementary remains a community of primarily brown-skinned, Latine-cued students and teachers, with a few words in Spanish sprinkled throughout. . . . A winning primer on how to rock reading.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

09/29/2023

Gr 1–3—Lupe Lopez has big dreams to become a musician and a Reading Rock Star! However, she experiences her worst day of first grade when she finds out she is in a group for kids who struggle with reading. She misreads a sentence in front of her group and is teased by Victor. This experience is one many kids face, making Lupe a very realistic and relatable character. While this story addresses an important and scary experience for young children, Lupe's struggles are not described in detail, which may prevent some children from understanding the challenge of learning to read. The resolution is tidy and does not show how Lupe uses either reading strategies or motivation to improve her skills, and the bullying between students is not addressed by the teacher. VERDICT This colorful, well-illustrated book describes a common childhood experience, but despite a relatable heroine, the limited detail about her challenges and quick resolution may not appropriately express empathy for students like her.—Tracey S. Hodges

School Library Journal

2023-06-21
Miniature rock star Lupe Lopez takes on her next big battle—reading!

Start a band in kindergarten? Done that! Now it’s the first day of first grade at Hector P. Garcia Elementary School, and our protagonist, whom readers may remember from Lupe Lopez: Rock Star Rules! (2022), is ready. Her goal for the year? Become a Reading Rock Star. With her pencil drumsticks in hand and pals beside her, Lupe swaggers into class prepared to read. Her first attempt at reading in class…doesn’t go too well. Worse yet, Victor Valdez (who’s totally in Group B and not Group A for Awesome like Lupe) seizes every opportunity to embarrass Lupe. It sure seems like “the worst day a first-grader ever had at Hector P. Garcia Elementary.” The following day, Ms. Moreno shares a sweet secret with a crestfallen Lupe: “Reading is like music.” Aha! Before long, Lupe bangs out to the beat of reading, one step closer to her rock star dream. A delightful romp, Lupe’s latest adventure leaps off the page with a “¡BOOM-TICA-BAM!” The authors bolster Lupe’s infectious sass even further, serving up the humorous melodrama that boosts her eventual comeback song. Hector P. Garcia Elementary remains a community of primarily brown-skinned, Latine-cued students and teachers, with a few words in Spanish sprinkled throughout. The artwork favors bold blues, lush purples, and creamy pinks, veering from solid swaths to fizzy bursts as Lupe ascends from reluctant reader to Reading Rock Star. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A winning primer on how to rock reading. (Picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews