about the book
Lupe Impala, Flapjack Octopus, and Elirio Malaria love cars, especially lowriders, and dream of one day owning their own shop. Lupe is a mechanic with a limitless supply of automobile knowledge. Flapjack’s eight arms can detail a car like no one else. And as a mosquito, Elirio’s needle-like proboscis can pinstripe cars with amazing accuracy.
When a contest for the best car offers a trunkload of cash to the winner, the trio’s dream is within reach!
They star working on a junker lowrider, but what will it take to transform it into the best car in the universe?
Maybe some space materials…
*There are Spanish and science terms interspersed throughout the book, with a glossary of definitions in the back.
about the author
While working as a youth services outreach librarian in Portland, Oregon, Cathy Camper became angry. The kids she met were a diverse group that couldn’t see themselves as the white suburban children that make up so many of the characters in books these days.
Where are all the books about African Americans, Arabs, Latinos, and Chinese? They didn’t exist.
So Cathy set out to write a book to fill this literary void. What she came up with is Lowriders in Space, a graphic novel about three Latino friends who love cars.
Writing was always something Cathy wanted to do. Her father and uncle were writers, so she grew up thinking writing was cool. She’d carry around a notebook, take classes, go to conferences, and participate in workshops. She has published articles and stories in Cricket, Wired, and Giant Robot magazines. She also writes reviews for Lambda Literary online.
Even though her first book, Bugs Before Time, was about fossilized insects, she does not like bugs that have more than eight legs.
Cathy lives in Portland, Oregon.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: The Book Doctors
Author interview: Chronicle Books
Also by Cathy Camper:
Lowriders to the Center of the Earth (Lowriders in Space, Book 2). Chronicle Books. 2015.
Bugs Before Time : Prehistoric Insects and Their Relatives. Simon & Schuster. 2002.
about the illustrator
Raul Gonzalez III, grew up in El Paso, Texas. On Sundays, his dad would send him to buy the El Paso Times at the 7-11. While there he’d also pick up some comic books. Once home, Raul would spend hours copying the images onto scrap sheets with his dad’s Bic pens.
It was a bit of an obsession.
When he was fifteen, Raul got a job at Bill’s Coins, Cards, Stamps, and Comics. At Bill’s, there was every type of comic you could imagine, and he spent most of his time flipping through the stacks of comics. The world of art was really open to him now.
Raul’s art has been featured in a number of exhibits across the United States. He’s even had a solo exhibit at the Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire. He also teaches classes on drawing and comics for kids at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Maud Morgan Arts community arts center, Cambridge; and Young Audiences of Massachusetts.
In Lowriders in Space, Raul only used black, blue, and red Bic pens—like when he was learning to draw. He wanted to show kids who dream of becoming an artist that they don’t need fancy art supplies. They can make art with supplies they have on hand.
Raul lives with in Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife and son.
Sources:
Illustrator profile: LinkedIn
Illustrator biography: The Book Doctors
Illustrator interview: School Library Journal
Also by Raul Gonzalez:
Lowriders to the Center of the Earth (Lowriders in Space, Book 2) by Cathy Camper. Chronicle Books. 2015.
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