El gato-vampiro y otros misterios
Grades 2-5
Friday, December 30, 2011
by: Francisco Vargas

Section: Children's Book Reviews


Fall/Winter 2011

Reviewed by Francisco Vargas. Youth Services Officer, Long Beach Public Library, CA.

This fast paced 4th installment in the Crónicas del Vampiro Valentín series is a quick read and picks up quickly where the previous book ended with very little explanation. Valentin, a vampire tween living with his stereotypical European vampire family, falls in love with a girl. His sister Celeste solves the mystery of their family’s secret benefactor and our predictable two villains end up in a mess of trouble.  The characters are flat and undeveloped while the humor is passable for Iberian youth but not U.S. Latinos.  Similarly, the glossy pages and colorful illustrations make it almost a graphic novel, but the use of regional colloquial language and heavy use of slang (for humor) will confuse young readers and annoy adults. Also, for some inexplicable reason, the cat in the story is named after President Obama. Not recommended.

 

El gato-vampiro y otros misterios. Cronicas del vampiro Valentin (Libro 4). Alvaro Maglhaes. Illus. by Carlos J. Campos. Trans. from Portuguese by Juanjo Berdullas. Barcelona: Pirueta Editorial, 2011. 109 pp. ISBN 9788492691944. Grades 2-5. Spanish.

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