MARTY MILAGROS DOOMS THE EARTH
A Star League Story, #1
by Veronica V. Jones
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Middle Grade Science Fiction / Grapic Novel
228 pages
ages 8 to 12
COMING SEPTEMBER 29th!!!
Marty Milagros is a klutz, a clown, a payaso—and now he's got an AI living in his brain! This epic, full-color sci-fi graphic novel is an #OwnVoices Latinx adventure for fans of Hilo and The Last Kids on Earth.
Twelve-year-old Marty Milagros is used to getting in trouble. Little does he know, his upstairs neighbor, Mr. Albert, is secretly a galactic scientist defending the planet from alien invaders—with an AI built to keep Earth safe. Then Marty accidentally downloads it into his own brain.
Now, with the help of his friends Alex and Mia, Marty has to stop the aliens. Can Earth's WORST defender overcome his self-doubt and save the world before he loses Mr. Albert for good?
Suit up with Earth's most unlikely hero—the planet is counting on him!
Twelve-year-old Marty Milagros is used to getting in trouble. Little does he know, his upstairs neighbor, Mr. Albert, is secretly a galactic scientist defending the planet from alien invaders—with an AI built to keep Earth safe. Then Marty accidentally downloads it into his own brain.
Now, with the help of his friends Alex and Mia, Marty has to stop the aliens. Can Earth's WORST defender overcome his self-doubt and save the world before he loses Mr. Albert for good?
- A fresh #OwnVoices Latinx sci-fi graphic novel
- Full-color, fast-paced art for fans of Hilo
- Spanish woven naturally throughout, with a heartfelt immigration theme
- Explores ADHD, identity, and self-confidence without being an ‘issue book’
Suit up with Earth's most unlikely hero—the planet is counting on him!
MY TIDBITS
An awkward boy stumbles head-first into an adventure which thrusts Earth into galactic danger.
Marty Milagros always is getting into trouble...or rather, he's constantly banging into it. He's, actually, a good kid, but life seems to have it out for him as he, accidentally, causes problems everywhere. The school aspect might be somewhat his fault, since he does procrastinate and tend to hand in his homework late, but he's doing his best-ish to kind of turn that around. When his mother asks him to take a misdelivered package to an elderly neighbor, he isn't excited and, again, finds himself in the middle of a small blunder as he backs into a shelf. When he picks up a strange sphere, he's hit with an odd sensation, but it isn't until a bit later that the neighbor explains what has really happened. Soon, Marty is hit with high-tech knowledge and, thanks to direct brain downloads, becomes a genius immediately. And that's not good because he's also now a member of a galactic organization, which defends against evil aliens.
These pages take an awkward teen and thrust him into a role way beyond anything he could have imagined. The author takes care to keep Marty very unsure of himself, and while he might suddenly run into powers, he definitely doesn't sink into them with amazing ease. This gives it a natural flow, which keeps him relatable, sympathetic, and easy to root for. At the same time, the science fiction world builds around him, mounting as the pages turn. The first encounter only holds a couple pages before sliding right back into his normal life, which allows the reader to ease into fantasy right along with Marty. So, there's a steady flow on this end. The danger and action mounts, keeping a steady pace with a constant build the entire way through. Then, there are messages surrounding friendship, fitting in, feeling comfortable in your own skin, and taking responsibility. Add the last layer of goodness, the bilingual dialogue, and it's a book that stretches beyond a simple adventure.
The illustrations are bold and bring across each scene naturally. The bilingual end is easily slid in with an English translation in a box at the bottom of the panel. However, most of the dialogue is in English, anyway. The text is easy to read and fits the middle grade age group nicely.
As the first novel in the series, this one sets a good foundation of the characters, situation, possible problems, and more. The world building is nicely laid out, and the reader has a very good handle on the characters. The tale does switch between points of view...mostly from Marty to the police. This wasn't my favorite, but it did smoothly open up to the danger and offer a door to feed in necessary information. The author spends time letting the reader really sink into Marty in the beginning, which allows them to get a good handle on his uncertainty before hitting him with the powers. While this offers great character connection, the first scifi moments didn't come in until over a quarter of the way into the book, and the danger came even later. So while there is plenty of tension and excitement in the later pages, it takes a bit to get there. But that also means there's a rich foundation for the rest of the series.
And here she is...
Veronica V. Jones is an illustrator and comic artist based in Northern Virginia. Influenced by a lifetime of reading comic books, she uses challenging compositions, dynamic poses, and expressive faces to tell stories with her art. A love of detail adds depth and complexity to the worlds she creates. As a Latina, Veronica sees the world is filled with beautiful people of all backgrounds and she wants to share their stories. Marty Milagros DOOMS the Earth is her debut graphic novel, and combines her deep nerd love of engineering, space and aliens.
