#MiddleGradeMagic was an online book festival with many panels of fantastic middle grade authors and illustrators. One of the authors that I got to tune into was Yehudi Mercado. I had not heard of his books before and his graphic novel series Sci-Fu sounded perfect for my students. I bought book #1 right then and there, and now I need to get the next in this series!
Summary:
Hip-Hop, Sci-Fi, and Kung Fu all hit the turn-tables for the mash-up mix of the year! Set in the 1980s of Brooklyn, Wax, a young mix-master who scratches the perfect beat, accidentally summons a UFO that transports his family, best friend, and current crush to the robot-dominated planet of Discopia. Now Wax and his crew must master the intergalactic musical martial art of Sci-Fu to fight the power and save Earth. Word to your mother.
My Thoughts: This was such a fun and hip graphic novel! It starts off in Brooklyn with Wax and his BFF Cooky P mixing some mad beats, but these beats are so mad they send out an interstellar challenge where they get transported to the planet of Discopia. The illustrations are phenomenal and you totally get that 1980’s funky vibe even with the character dialogue. When it’s time to defeat the Five Deadly Dangers and eventually the ultimate Choo Choo, the action-packed story kind of drags on. You’ve really got to keep up with all that’s going on in the battles and such to not get lost. Wax is definitely the main character and hot shot of the book, so I am hoping to hear more from Cooky P and the other characters in the follow ups. My kids will love this robot, rapping, crime fighting book from Yehudi Mercado though. It’s too fun!
About the Author
Born in Mexico City and raised in Houston, TX, Yehudi Mercado is a former Disney Art Director turned successful graphic novelist. During his time at Disney he co-wrote and was the Art Director for Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon (Mobile Game). His original graphic novels as include Buffalo Speedway, Pantalones, TX, Rocket Salvage and Sci-Fu: Kick it Off (which was featured on the Scholastic Book Fair and was one of the top 10 most checked out books for kids in the New York Public Library System).
Current projects include show-running a narrative podcast based on his graphic novel, Hero Hotel, for the Pinna Network. Yehudi is in development on an original Cartoon Network series, is working on a middle-grade graphic novel for Harper-Collins entitled Chunky and is writing the screenplay based on one of his graphic novels for DreamWorks Feature animation. His other graphic novel, Fun Fun Fun World, released in April 2020.
Do you know of any epic comics or graphic novels for middle grade readers? Let me know below!
Xo, Sierra
Books. Iced Lattes. Blessed. 
This sounds like such a fun book! You don’t usually see hip-hop, sci-fi, and kung fu all in one book! Thanks for the great review!
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It was a crazy mashup, for sure!
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