LOWRIDERS TO THE RESCUE

When fires hit right in the middle of the monarch migration, a butterfly named Sokar flees to the city to find help for her family.

After a dramatic opening in which Sokar’s father is killed, the book shifts gears to the Lowriders in Space garage, where we see Lupe Impala, Elirio Malaria, and El Chavo Flapjack Octopus del Mar Junior. In town to get El Chavo glasses, the Lowriders meet Sokar and offer to help her. Readers learn how climate change and pollution are impacting the environment, leading to wildfires, and that much of it is due to the influence of big business taking over the neighborhood. Lupe, Elirio, and El Chavo have their eyes opened by Sokar and come up with a plan to save the neighborhood and the monarchs. Though the message is a good one, at times it feels heavy-handed. However, the inspired art will entice readers. The black-ink outlines pop against a warm palette of reds and oranges, and the illustrations have a vintage comic book vibe. The Lowriders are Latinx, while Sokar and her family are Arab and Muslim (Sokar, who resembles a human with wings, wears a hijab), and at one point the new friends discuss similarities between Arabic and Spanish.

Vibrant visuals will draw kids into a story with an optimistic message about standing up to injustice.