Lucia the Luchadora

Review by: Erin Paul

Title: Lucia the Luchadora

Author: Cynthia Leonor Garza

Illustrator: Alyssa Bermudez

Lucia the Luchadora is about a young girl who is frustrated by gender-norm constructs.  Lucia wants to play super-heroes with the boys on the playground, but they ignore her attempts to join them and tell her that girls “can’t be superheroes.”  This makes Lucia mad. When she goes home, her Abuela tells her that when she was a young girl, she was a special kind of super hero called a Luchadora.  Will Lucia develop the confidence to be true to herself?  Will she be able to change the minds of the children on the playground?

This book is highly engaging for young students due to the colorful and vibrant illustrations, super-hero content, and onomatopoeia.  It is appealing to the eye and ear!  It is a relevant and relatable topic, especially with the recent popularity of Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel.  Lucia the Luchadora can help empower girls (and boys!) to be true to their personal identity.

I recommend this book to young girls and boys as they navigate a world that tries to define what it means to be a girl or boy.  Gender identity is an important issue in our society today and this is a great story to introduce the discussion of helping children find the confidence to be true to their selves, despite what society tries to tell us to believe.

Author Interview: https://www.npr.org/2017/07/02/535240776/when-she-s-told-girls-can-t-be-superheroes-lucia-la-luchadora-grabs-her-mask