Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The third title in the Lowriders series (Lowriders in Space, BCCB 1/15 and Lowriders to the Center of the Earth, BCCB 7/16) answers the question: just how did the low-riding crew of friends Lupe Impala, Elirio Malaria (the mosquito), and Flapjack Octopus get together in the first place? It started with a gang of local bullies, Los Matamoscas (The Flyswatters), who destroy Elirio's mural art and, shortly thereafter, Flapjack's bicycle. Drawn by Flapjack's sobs, Lupe offers to take the bike back to her mom's repair shop; Flapjack cleans some of the mess off Elirio's painting; and Elirio, with his artistic talent, will be the invaluable link in helping Lupe's moms get ready to enter their own lowrider in the car show, which those lying, cheating Matamoscas are doing everything in their power to prevent. Generous hearts, cooperation, and ingenuity bond the trio—and, of course, assure the moms take center stage at the show—but it's the loopy details in Raúl the Third's signature pen work that keeps Lowriders polished and gleaming. It's hard to know where to look first, with a team of ivory-billed woodpeckers turning their beaks to painting roses on the lowrider entry; Lupe converting an old tire into a compressor for Elirio's makeshift airbrush; and Señor Bufolardo, the car show organizer, arriving at the event with a monster watermelon strapped to the roof of his own ride for snacks. A glossary of Spanish terms, plus endnotes covering textual references to everything from how airbrushes work to the likely extinction of ivory-billed woodpeckers, invite readers to immerse themselves in the abundant cultural and technological details that whip by in the antic text. EB [End Page 114]