Grow Up Luchy Zapata
Alexandra Alessandri
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published July 23, 2024
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About Grow Up, Luchy Zapata
A funny, relatable middle school drama about two Colombian American girls who have always been BFFs—until sixth grade turns everything upside down.
Luchy Zapata is starting middle school, and she’s muy excited. She and her two best friends, Cami and Mateo, will finally be at the same school. Luchy and Mateo will be in art class together, and she and Cami can try out for the same soccer team! As long as they’re all together, Luchy can handle anything.
But Cami has been acting weird ever since she got back from visiting family in Colombia. She’s making new, “cool” friends who just seem mean. And suddenly, everything about Luchy and Mateo is too immature for her.
Luchy is determined to help Cami remember how special their friendship is. They’ve been BFFs their whole lives, and that can’t just disappear in a poof of glitter! But…what if Cami doesn’t even want to be friends anymore?
My Review
Middle grade stories that explore this moment in friendships hold a special place in my heart. I remember having a best friend with whom this happened, and I had many of the same hurt and confused feelings that Luchy does. Why was the friendship suddenly changing when I hadn’t changed at all?
I love Luchy’s family, especially her relationship with her grandmother. She takes care of Luchy, listens to her, and tells her things she needs to hear. She even backs Luchy up when she confronts her parents about something. I liked that. Most of Abui’s dialog is in Spanish, and the author does a great job helping unfamiliar readers understand the words through translation or context clues that don’t slow the story down. I love that the author includes some expressions and explains the literal interpretation and what they mean.
For sports fans, this book takes a little bit to get into the scenes showing soccer matches. She practices with her friends to prepare for team tryouts, but it isn’t until the tryouts themselves that we begin getting more of a play-by-play description of Luchy on the field. Luchy has to work really hard to balance her feelings about Cami with her commitment to her sport and her team. I thought that tug-of-war was another element the author handled well.
Grow Up, Luchy Zapata has a lot to love, from its Colombian representation to the close-up of a friendship transitioning to middle school to the joy of playing a team sport like soccer.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.
Representation
Luchy and her friend Cami are Colombian American. Matteo is Chilean American.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content
Cami starts talking about who has a crush on whom. Luchy doesn’t feel ready to think about that.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
Some of the girls start taking things from each other. The pranks are hurtful and get out of hand until someone confesses to a teacher.
Drug Content
None.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday
I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle with Greg Pattridge.
I recently saw the cover of this book- but I didn’t know anything about it. I enjoyed your review and it sounds like a great book. I will add it to my list and then I can recommend it to my 5th grade students (especially as they get ready for middle school and friendship changes). 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Stephanie! I’m so glad the review was helpful. I hope your students enjoy the book. 🙂
Middle-grade friendship drama is always a great recipe. This sounds good. I like the title. Thanks for the review.
So true! Thanks, Rosi. 🙂
This really sounds like a wonderful story about friendships. I love that Abui’s dialog is in Spanish. We need more stories like this! Enjoyed your review.
Thanks, Patricia! Totally agree– more stories like this would be great!
I know many people love these sorts of books, but could you please, please have a bit more variety in the reviews you post? (More historical fiction and more classics would be great!)
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Zara, thanks for your comment. I wish I had time to review ALL the books, but I really don’t. As you noted, I review a lot of contemporary and fantasy MG and YA. I probably read about a half-dozen classics per year and maybe 6-10 historical novels. My advice would be to find a blog or YouTube channel covering the kinds of books you’d like to see! There are lots of really great blogs and bookish channels on YouTube out there. 🙂
I can relate to this kind of friendship problem, too. This sounds like a fantastic story, especially given the girls’ Columbian heritage. Thanks for sharing it this week.
Thanks, Natalie. 🙂 Hope you have a great week!
Great minds think alike! I have a review of this as well. I do wish we would see more books where the kid who is perfectly happy to grow up isn’t painted as a villain. I suppose I lost a couple of friendships because I was a little more immature than my classmates, but there are so many other friendship dynamics that play out.
You know– that’s a really good point. I can’t think of a book from the POV of the friend moving ahead before her bestie was ready. That would be interesting to explore.
Sixth grade and friendship troubles have me anxious to read this one. The Colombian background of the girls is also intriguing. Thanks for the review.
This book has got a lot to recommend it, that’s for sure. Happy MMGM!
I too enjoy stories that focus on changing friendships, and the feelings associated with it so thank you for highlighting this today. Happy MMGM
Yay! High five for changing friendship books. Happy MMGM!