Wriiten by Cynthia Leonor Garza and illustrated by Alyssa Bermudez. This picture book is about a young dark-haired girl who loves to wear a superhero red cape. This book will appeal to students as it is beautifully illustrated and offers a cultural view of “Mexican Superheroes” and celebrates the courage, strength, wit and determination of girls.

Lucia the Luchadora is a picturebook written by Cynthia Lenor Garza and illustrated by Alyssa Bermudez. Boys on the playground say, "Girls are just sugar, spice, and everything nice." Lucia puts on a mask and becomes a luchadora. Everyone on the playground imitated the luchadora. When a pink luchadora shows up on the playground, the boys tease her again. Lucia decides to take her mask off to show everyone that she is a girl. All the other luchadores take their masks off and, to everyone's surprise, some are girls! This is a fantastic story that addresses gender roles. As a woman, this picture book really hits home. Of course, I have never dressed up like a luchadora, but I have experienced the sexism before. I would recommend this be put in the classroom for many reasons. This book covers an important theme and is multicultural. The illustrations are bright and colorful. It has almost a comic book feel to it. It is a very fun read! ( )

“Lucia the Luchadora” is about a young girl, Lucia, who can run through the playground and jump off the monkey bars, landing on her feet like a super hero. Unfortunately, all the boys ignore her exclaiming that “girls can’t be a super hero”. Lucia learns that she must fight for what is right and be a role model to other girls. This is a great book for guided reading and empowering young girls. ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked where the words on each page were written by each character to show their dialogue. Lucia is such an active girl with a vast imagination, and she's confronted by some boys about how she can't be a superhero because she's a girl. Lucia wont stand for that so she, with the help of her grandmother gains her confidence back up to become the superhero all the girls needed on the playground. She broke that barrier, and now the boys and girls all enjoy playing together as whatever they want. I liked how this book used a basic scenario that would happen on a playground and taught everyone that its okay to be yourself and you should never have to hide behind a mask. ( )

Lucía loved to play in the park, enjoying imaginative games of make-believe, in which she starred as the superhero. When the boys tell her girls can't be superheroes, she gets a little down, until her Abuela tells her about the amazing wrestlers known as Luchedores, and gives her the beautiful mask and cape that transform her into a Luchadora. Feeling empowered, she enjoys the splash she makes in her new disguise. But when this idea of girls not being superheroes once again surfaces, she must reveal her identity to put a stop to it...

An immensely engaging book, one which pairs an engrossing story with colorful, appealing artwork, Lucía the Luchadora is the picture-book debut of both author Cynthia Leonar Garza and illustrator Alyssa Bermudez. It is published by POW!, the new children's book imprint of the Brooklyn-based publisher, powerhouse. I appreciated the fact that Lucía's stint as a superhero ended up involving both feeling great about herself and doing something for others, as the narrative felt a little "me, me, me!" at the beginning. I was glad to be proven wrong, and delighted to find a story about Luchedores, as these popular Mexican wrestlers are an important part of many American children's culture, and have hitherto been under-represented in our books. There is even an afterword giving more information about Luche Libre. The accompanying artwork is lovely, with a vibrant color scheme that reminded me a bit of the work of Brigette Barrager. The decorative endpapers were a nice touch as well! Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about being a superhero in general, or about Luchedores specifically. ( )