Cynthia Leonor Garza

Lucia the Luchadora is a picturebook written by Cynthia Lenor Garza and illustrated by Alyssa Bermudez. Boys on the playground say, "Girls are just sugar, spice, and everything nice." Lucia puts on a mask and becomes a luchadora. Everyone on the playground imitated the luchadora. When a pink luchadora shows up on the playground, the boys tease her again. Lucia decides to take her mask off to show everyone that she is a girl. All the other luchadores take their masks off and, to everyone's surprise, some are girls! This is a fantastic story that addresses gender roles. As a woman, this picture book really hits home. Of course, I have never dressed up like a luchadora, but I have experienced the sexism before. I would recommend this be put in the classroom for many reasons. This book covers an important theme and is multicultural. The illustrations are bright and colorful. It has almost a comic book feel to it. It is a very fun read!… (more)

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked where the words on each page were written by each character to show their dialogue. Lucia is such an active girl with a vast imagination, and she's confronted by some boys about how she can't be a superhero because she's a girl. Lucia wont stand for that so she, with the help of her grandmother gains her confidence back up to become the superhero all the girls needed on the playground. She broke that barrier, and now the boys and girls all enjoy playing together as whatever they want. I liked how this book used a basic scenario that would happen on a playground and taught everyone that its okay to be yourself and you should never have to hide behind a mask.… (more)