Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Starred Review [TITLE: Carlos Hernandez Fixes the UniverseDEK: This duology closer leaves behind a hopeful haven for young readers.]To paraphrase Kate DiCamillo's paraphrasing of Katherine Paterson, middle-grade authors are "duty-bound to end their stories with hope." Of course, these two kidlit queens are concerned not with shielding readers from reality but, rather, with reflecting the sufferings that befall even the youngest among us. They know it's the author's job to acknowledge the pain and show a path forward. In his Sal and Gabi duology, which began with the Pura Belpré winning Sal and Gabi Break the Universe (2019), Hernandez takes this quintessential duty to the next level. Hope is the very foundation on which his work stands.On the surface, the world of Sal and Gabi is many things. Filtered through the consciousness of young Sal Vidón, an amateur stage magician with the power of crossing between universes, it's the Miami, FL, of our own reality t, humid, diverse t it's also a science-fantasy wonderland where anything is possible: AI supercomputers, world-eating wormholes, sentient toilets. More importantly, it's home to Culeco Academy of the Arts, whose inspiring approach to education conjures Hogwarts more than homework. It's a school founded on a culture of creativity, collaboration, and support, where students are fully engaged in their theatrical crafts and the principal is as quick to dole out mama-bear hugs as she is to serve up discipline.And yet, as ideal as Culeco is, it's not some carefree Camazotz (à la A Wrinkle in Time), where everything works out for everyone. Despite the story's epic trappings gic powers and cosmic consequences ere's no supervillain to contend with; instead, the conflicts are rooted in reality, the characters victims of everyday life. Sal is a type 1 diabetic, still mourning his mami's death; Gabi's infant brother is gravely ill; reformed ballerino Yasmany comes from an abusive household. These kids hurt. They're flawed. They make mistakes and go too far st like real people.To be clear, the book has a plot, as well l's papi, a calamity physicist, is working to close various wormholes created by his son, even as an "Evil Gabi" from a parallel world fights to stop him from inadvertently destroying the multiverse t plot is beside the point here. Hernandez writes with gleeful abandon, placing readers so firmly in the moment-to-moment of Sal's endlessly wry, insightful, and comical perspective that the narrative vehicle is a series of madcap side quests and subplots: Sal's race against time to not pee his pants, Sal's race against time to flush Gabi's spy-drone down the toilet, Sal and Gabi's race against time to fix the school production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, their regularly paced effort to find Yasmany a safe home.Hernandez writes fearlessly, filling his prose with emojis, interrobangs, and even interactive sections, frequently breaking the fourth wall. With his inventive style, zany world building, and off-the-charts joke-to-sentence ratio, this literary loon is operating somewhere in the space between Lewis Carroll and Louis Sachar, but he outshines all the great L(ew/ou)ises by grounding the madness in the honest, endearing, and authentic voice of Sal. In some ways, this book is an exercise in organized chaos, and it shines brightest when things quiet down and the characters open up, get "smeepy," and let their vulnerabilities show. Beneath his book's comedic veneer, Hernandez is teaching readers how to handle their own calamities: with the help of one another.In Culeco, and in Sal's life, community is everything. Almost every character makes a journey from hardship towards finding family: in the wake of Mami's death, Sal is buoyed by his "American Stepmom" and new Miami friends; Yasmany finds comfort in the school principal and a home among Gabi's myriad of dads; even "Evil Gabi" ultimately gets a second chance with a found family of other multiverse Gabis.That's the gift of these books: not just a rosy ending but a universe built around people's fundamental goodness and grace, grounded in the events of daily life. In the construction of Sal and Gabi's world, Hernandez has himself fixed our own universe t by removing its flaws but by populating it with people who care for one another. It's a place for readers to live in, a haven they can always escape to for comfort and for hope. And also, fart jokes. But mostly hope.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2023)

The continued multiverse adventures of Sal Vidón and Gabi Reál.It's been three weeks since Sal and Gabi saved the life of Gabi's newborn brother, Iggy, and everything seems to be back to normal-or at least as normal as possible with a potentially broken universe. Then Sal's calamity-physicist father and Gabi's Dad: The Final Frontier finish work on their remembranation machine, which they hope will fix the holes in the universe created in the Pura Belpré–winning Sal and Gabi Break the Universe (2019)-but has become sentient artificial intelligence in the process. As if that were not enough, Sal's unlikely new friend, Yasmany, seems to have gone missing, and a Gabi from another universe shows up to warn Sal that Papi's research has destroyed her world and killed her own Sal and that they must stop his version of Papi from doing the same. This excellent sequel features nonstop multiverse hijinks, great comedy, and heartening moments that are skillfully interwoven with a subplot that features a delightfully surreal student production of Alice in Wonderland-er, "Alicia" in "el pais de las maravillas." The supporting cast includes a plethora of nurturing adults as well as amusingly melodramatic AI's. Most characters are Cuban American, and Hernandez continues to effortlessly incorporate intersectionalities, including Gabi's loving polyamorous family and Sal's Type 1 diabetes and his aromantic identity.A hilarious, heartwarming, and absolutely unmissable sequel. (Science fiction. 10-13)

Horn Book (Thu Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Sal and Gabi are back in the sequel to Pura Belpré Award-winning Sal & Gabi Break the Universe, only this time they have to fix the universe -- and during tech week for their school's production of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Gabi is playing Alice), no less. Sal's father, a calamity physicist, thinks the way to do it is by mending the rips in the membrane between universes, but Sal's not so sure. Then a rogue Gabi from another universe pops up, warning of even more dire consequences. Can she be trusted? And must the (truly terrible) show go on? Featuring a diverse cast of characters both human and AI (and introducing Vorágine, a talking toilet whose name means "whirlpool" in Spanish), Hernandez balances action with playfulness, humor, and heart. As to the children's quest, "No es fácil," to quote Sal (and "every Cuban ever"), but when it's all over, it's easy for readers to follow the advice of Sal's homeroom teacher Srx. Cosquillas and "be generous with the applause." Anamaría Anderson

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

The continued multiverse adventures of Sal Vidón and Gabi Reál.It's been three weeks since Sal and Gabi saved the life of Gabi's newborn brother, Iggy, and everything seems to be back to normal-or at least as normal as possible with a potentially broken universe. Then Sal's calamity-physicist father and Gabi's Dad: The Final Frontier finish work on their remembranation machine, which they hope will fix the holes in the universe created in the Pura Belpré–winning Sal and Gabi Break the Universe (2019)-but has become sentient artificial intelligence in the process. As if that were not enough, Sal's unlikely new friend, Yasmany, seems to have gone missing, and a Gabi from another universe shows up to warn Sal that Papi's research has destroyed her world and killed her own Sal and that they must stop his version of Papi from doing the same. This excellent sequel features nonstop multiverse hijinks, great comedy, and heartening moments that are skillfully interwoven with a subplot that features a delightfully surreal student production of Alice in Wonderland-er, "Alicia" in "el pais de las maravillas." The supporting cast includes a plethora of nurturing adults as well as amusingly melodramatic AI's. Most characters are Cuban American, and Hernandez continues to effortlessly incorporate intersectionalities, including Gabi's loving polyamorous family and Sal's Type 1 diabetes and his aromantic identity.A hilarious, heartwarming, and absolutely unmissable sequel. (Science fiction. 10-13)

Publishers Weekly (Thu Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2023)

In this heartwarming follow-up to 2019-s Sal & Gabi Break the Universe, the titular duo is faced with a new set of challenges when a Gabi from a parallel dimension appears, claiming that Sal-s father-s efforts to close wormholes will actually destroy the universe. Faced with this desperate doppelgänger of his best friend and mounting evidence that his father-s on the wrong track, Sal must find a way to save everyone he loves. Meanwhile, the machine designed to fix the membrane between worlds has gained sentience and has questions--many, many questions--for example, about the purpose of life. While Hernandez incorporates a genuine threat to his characters in this rousing adventure, the true focus is on friendship, family, and honesty: Sal remains a bastion of genuine decency, trying to atone for well-meaning mistakes, while Gabi-s earnest enthusiasm comes with its own drawbacks, as exemplified by her determined duplicate, the so-called Fix!Gabi. With further emphasis on the protagonists- extended clans, this story also speaks to the importance of both biological and found family, and the impact of love and acceptance. Simultaneously, a subplot involving emergent AIs addresses the nature of personhood and self-awareness. Ages 8-12. Agent: DongWon Song, Morhaim Literary. (May)

School Library Journal (Thu Nov 30 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Gr 4-8 Sal and Gabi are back with a delightful mix of middle school drama and sci-fi high jinks. In this sequel to Sal and Gabi Break the Universe , the duo, along with their friends and blended families, are attempting to repair the rips in time and space that they created in book one. When a Gabi from another dimension arrives and tells Sal that his father is about to destroy his universe as he knows it, he automatically believes her; but is this new Gabi as trustworthy as his own? These supernatural problems are combined with the stress of preparations for parents' night, a Broadway-level production at school, and Yasmany's escalating home problems. One of Hernandez's greatest strengths is his ability to blend tween problems with fantastical science fiction elements, without making either plotline seem unimportant. A blink-if-you-miss-it reference to Sal having an aromantic identity is something that those in the LGBTQIA community will appreciate, but might fly past a less-informed reader. New readers should be directed to the first book in the series, since the basics of Sal's powers and the life situations of his friends are not covered in this sequel. VERDICT Recommended for libraries serving middle grades, especially where the first book and other titles in the Rick Riordan imprint are popular.Jeri Murphy, C.F. Simmons M.S., Aurora, IL