Maximilian and the Lucha Libre Club: A Bilingual Lucha Libre Thriller

Max's Lucha Libre Adventures

by Xavier Garza (Illustrator)

Max seems like any other nerdy kid until he's asked to join the ranks of royalty, the Lucha Libre Club. The fights still rage on in the third installation of Max's Lucha Libre Adventures series. Max seems like any other nerdy kid until he's asked to join the Lucha Libre Club. The super-secret club admits only the offspring of wrestling royalty. And Max is a prince, descended through his mother from royal blood, his uncle the very king of lucha The Guardian Angel. Trouble is, the club is so secret that Max can't tell his best friend or girlfriend what he is up. Just that vexing Paloma. Xavier Garza lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Genres: Middle Grade, Graphic Novels

208 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2016

About the author

Born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, author and luche libre aficionado Xavier Garza is a prolific author, artist, and storyteller whose work focuses primarily on his experiences growing up in the small border town of Rio Grande City. Garza has exhibited his art and performed his stories in venues throughout Texas, Arizona and the state of Washington. Garza lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife Irma and their young son Vincent.

Reviews

[MacK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Xavier Garcia clearly knows his world. He may not have had a career in the squared circle, but he fully understands the mixture of athletics and story telling that makes wrestling a thrill for all ages.

Garcia continues to bring out the humanity behind the (literal) masks. Max is just starting to navigate the fraught world of young romance. One uncle is exploring fatherhood, while his two mentors are torn between memories of the past and plans for the future.

There’s no shortage of Luchador action or high drama, but in a quest to build his world up, Garza does wind up spreading himself thinly. The titular club ends up crowded with characters with names that are lost in the shuffle and backstories that are easily pushed aside. Max’s family and friends outside the ring are easily forgotten. Maybe Garza’s playing a long game, I certainly hope so. Knowing the world of wrestling, anything can spark a feud…so here’s hoping.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucha libre reminds me of the over-the-top "rassling" matches my grandmother used to watch every Saturday night when I was growing up. These featured wrestlers who wrestled to some extent, but the sport was more performance and drama than anything else and even boasted a cast of characters--good guys and bad guys--just like the ones in this fast-paced story. In this title, the third in a series, twelve-year-old Max, the nephew of the Guardian Angel, one of the lucha libre performers, is befuddled by girls, and torn between Cecilia and Paloma. While the former has moved to LA and the latter also moves from the Texas town where she lives as the story opens, all three end up in LA at the same time when Max's uncle and his friends are there to perform and induct Max into the world that has brought them fame, fortune, and joy. There are plenty of conflicts in the story, of course, while Max starts sorting things out and figuring out what matters. Books like this one will certainly find a ready audience, eager to soak the text up. The author has created a likeable, almost too-perfect protagonist in Max, and set the stage for more to come.

[Lidia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading this graphic novel. I can see my students relating to the characters in the story. The best part is that this book can be found on getepic.com I didn't have to worry about the libraries being closed. I would use this book for guided reading since it is a novel and a longer read to allow for a book study.

[Shawn Aebi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusta el cuento y el estilo de Garza. Max esta un nino personable e espero que suerte con las muchachas!

[kermit]

Its really good

[Scott Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is as if a wrestling writer wrote your abuela's telenovelas. And YES, it is THAT good!

[Sharon Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aprendi muchas palabras de lucha libre!