Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez

Sal is in the principal’s office for the third time in three days, and it’s still the first week of school. Join us for our Homeschool Book Discussion on Wednesday May 15 at 1 pm in the East Montpelier Room to discuss Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez. A nonstop sense of wonder accompanies a genuinely heartwarming and humorous tone, and Sal and Gabi are clearly a fictional team destined for greatness. When Sal Vidón meets Gabi Reál for the first time, it isn’t under the best of circumstances. TrueTrue/False: Sal's father called the school and asked them to make the red zone easier. This vibrant tale from Cuban-American Hernandez ( The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria for adults) is peppered with Spanish dialogue and slang, filled with mouthwatering plates of Cuban cuisine, and highly inclusive, featuring a sprawling, memorable cast, including Gabi’s collection of gender-spanning dads. The good SalTrue/False: Sal visited Gabi after detention and brought 2 masks to cheer her up. When Gabi’s hospitalized baby brother takes a turn for the worse, Sal’s power might just be the solution they need-unless it destroys the universe.

Making friends with ambitious journalist Gabi Real and her unconventional family helps ease the transition. In Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, seventh grader Sal begins his career at a new middle school by combating a bullynot by fighting back exactly, but by performing a magic trick of sorts. It's not all fun and games though as Sal is still grieving the loss of his mom, PTSD from a car crash, moving, Gabi's got a sick brother in the hospital, and her best friend has an unstable home. It’s not easy: the teachers are eccentric, his fellow students think he’s a brujo (a bad witch), and every so often Sal brings versions of his deceased mother-“Mami Muerta”-over from other dimensions, much to his father and stepmother’s consternation. There's an amazing step-mom, a host of amazing dads, Gabi who is a force of nature, and fun detention. except maybe Gabi, whose sharp eyes never miss a trick. In this charming middle grade romp, 13-year-old Sal Vidón, a type 1 diabetic and amateur magician with the inexplicable ability to open holes in the space-time continuum, adjusts to his new life at Miami’s Culeco Academy of the Arts. Sal prides himself on being an excellent magician, but for this sleight of hand, he relied on a talent no one would guess.