A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation, by Pablo Cartaya

     The newest release by author Pablo Cartaya, author of Marcus Vegas Doesn't Speak Spanish, as well as a few others, most of which, it seems, I have also read! I think he is one of my go-to authors, even though I didn't realize it until writing this review! A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation is a really cool idea as far as stories go; protagonist Gonzalo is pushed by his mom to accompany his grumpy grandfather across the United States in an old car to promote the elder's fantasy book series. Gonzalo doesn't really know his grandfather, and doesn't really want to go. Grandad doesn't want to do a book promotion tour, because he mostly doesn't like people, he says. Gonzalo's mom wants him to travel with his grandfather anyway, and wants Gonzalo to read the book series as well - something he hasn't done. In fact, Gonzalo has invited his grandad to his school a few times to speak about his books, but Grandad always says no, which is one reason Gonzalo doesn't want to travel with him. Why should he, right?

    The main character in the highly popular book series is named Gonzalo, too, which makes a book tour weird for the real Gonzalo...is the series about him? But as the trip begins, Gonzalo begins to unravel the connections in the books to his family, and it brings up a lot of unanswered questions for everyone involved. This is what I enjoyed about the book - a book about a book, where the book's main character is named the same as the other book's main character, and everyone is looking for answers, although the real characters don't really know that yet. Confused? Don't be! 

    A Hero's Guide is easy to follow and well written. A couple of times I thought some plot twists were too easily solved, but it didn't happen a lot, and didn't really take away from the overall book. Cartaya is a good writer, and consistent, although I think his books usually fall just short of 5 paws for me - I'll have to double check that, though! A good story, a clever idea, and easy to read from start to finish - enjoy! 4 paws!