ChupaCarter (ChupaCarter #1)

After getting into trouble one too many times, sarcastic (“Your smart mouth just bought you a one-way ticket to detention,” his previous principal used to say) Chicano Jorge Lopez, 12, is sent to live with his abuelos in a “dusty, deserted, desert-y armpit of a town in the middle of Nowheresville, New Mexico.” He doesn’t love anything about his new life, especially not his “snooty-falooty private school” or his white, bombastic, hunting-enthusiast principal, until he befriends woods-dwelling chupacabra Carter, a blood-drinking humanoid creature. Carter has been hiding from mortal hunters and folkloric vampire dogs after being separated from his family, and Jorge promises to keep him safe. But as the hunters close in on the duo, Jorge enlists two of his classmates—Star Trek fan Ernie, who is Native American, and Black, vegan, “uber smart” Liza—to get Carter to safety. Gutierrez’s (The Garden Plot) lively b&w illustrations expertly render Jorge and Carter’s occasionally over-the-top, adrenaline-filled adventures. Actor/comedian Lopez and Calejo (the Charlie Hernández series) offer a rollicking tale brimming with Latinx folklore and culture about finding one’s home in the unlikeliest of places that never takes itself too seriously. Ages 8–12. (Aug.)