Gum Luck

Gr 2–4—With her new powers, Gabby Gomez finds herself constantly switching between her secret and real identities. As a result, she is having a hard time juggling everything she has going on. To top it off, Gabby has a cavity, she has yet to tell her gum-hating dentist dad about her secret identity, and she's running low on gum, since her brother got into her stash. Meanwhile, she has a new archnemesis, RoboChef. Scorned on public television for tripping over gum, he naturally hates Gum Girl and is bent on taking over the world. Can Gabby stop him before it's too late? Will she ever tell her parents about her secret identity? The illustrations in this book are detailed and comic book—like. The characters are fairly well developed for an early chapter book, and the humor adds depth to the story. The plot is unique and engaging. However, some attempts at inserting Spanglish are more successful than others.