Book Review: Sal & Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
Culeco Academy of the Arts is a magnet school for gifted middle schoolers in a Cuban-American neighborhood of Miami, Florida. It’s usually a fun place for a school, full of creativity and teachers who want to bring out the best in their students. But even with strict anti-bullying policies in place, there are problems. Yasmany has a difficult home life, a hair-trigger temper and poor impulse control. Today is the third day of the new school year, and the third day he hasn’t been able to open his locker. So when he thinks the smaller kid next to him is mocking him, he reacts…poorly.
But Salvador “Sal” Vidón is no ordinary child. He is a (stage) magician, trained in misdirection. And also, he has the gift of tearing holes in the fabric of space-time to bring objects from parallel universes into his. So, to distract Yasmany from the thought of beating him up, Sal conjures a raw chicken into Yasmany’s locker. The good news is that this confuses everyone enough that no violence occurs. The less good news is that now both Yasmany and Sal must go to the principal’s office.
It’s there that Sal meets Gabriella “Gabi” Reál, student council president, editor of the school paper, and potential defense attorney, who’s come to help Yasmany maybe not get expelled from school. Between her fast-talking logic, Sal making all traces of the chicken disappear while no one was looking, and Principal Torres being a reasonable authority figure, Yasmany gets another chance.
But now Gabi wants to know exactly how that chicken got into Yasmany’s locker, where the evidence went, and just who this “Sal” character is anyway. And she’s like a shark when she wants to know something. Oh, and the hole in spacetime in Yasmany’s locker hasn’t closed. That’s worrying. And Gabi can see it. That’s intriguing/terrifying.
This middle school science fiction novel is part of the “Rick Riordan Presents” publishing line which presents books by authors for young people speaking to and about different cultures and heritages. It won the Pura Belpré Award for best Latino representation in a book for youth in 2020.
While it’s definitely a science fiction book, I can tell it’s been heavily influenced by Latin American “magical realism” in its style. To the naked eye, Sal’s abilities look like magic, and not everyone is cool with that. Plus, he has an unfortunate habit of summoning his dead mother (or reasonable facsimiles thereof) across the multiverse, something upsetting to his father and stepmother.
Sal also has diabetes, which is a recurring problem as he doesn’t always take the best care of himself in the moment. While he’s excellent at improvisation and planning out magic tricks, he’s not good at anticipating secondary consequences. He’s a smartass, but means well.
Gabi has her own issues. Her family is a polycule, (including a robot) which sometimes gets disapproval from outsiders. Also, her infant brother Iggy is in intensive care and struggling for survival. She means well, but her dedication to journalism causes some issues for Sal.
In general, this is a story with no on-stage villains. There’s just people with different agendas, personalities and beliefs who clash because they don’t understand each other or because their immediate goals aren’t compatible. Even Yasmany is trying very hard to be a better person. The character I feel most sorry for is Mr. Lynott, the gym coach, who is desperate not to be the hardass P.E. instructor stereotype, but keeps getting wrongfooted.
Sal and Gabi are extremely articulate for their age, which borders on precocity from time to time, but should go over well with the target audience. There’s some untranslated Cuban-accented Spanish, so monolingual kids might have some difficulty without the internet to help.
I really appreciate that the parents are neither hostile nor useless; Sal and Gabi have strong positive relationships with their families, which benefit everyone.
Gabi wants to help her little brother, and Sal’s powers may be the key to that, but those tears in space-time that aren’t mending are worrisome. What if they save Iggy, but break the universe?
Content note: Bullying, mention of child abuse. Gabi punches and bites playfully. There’s an arachnophobia scene. Children in peril, with hospital scenes. Body function humor. Mentions of ethnic prejudice, a bit of gender stereotyping. Heteronormativity. Some conservative parents and politicians may object to the depiction of the polycule. Naughty words in Spanish. Most middle schoolers should be able to handle this book.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. Some sections were a bit twee for me, but as usual, I am not the target audience. Recommended for bright middle school readers, especially ones that haven’t been exposed to Cuban-American culture before.
