{"product_id":"chupacarter-and-the-curse-of-la-llorona-isbn-9798217042418","title":"ChupaCarter and the Curse of La Llorona","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn this latest installment of entertainer George Lopez's books for children, Jorge and his chupacabra friend Carter investigate a terrifying appartition from Mexican folklore who is causing a rash of alarming disappearances . . . including Jorge's father!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen a legendary monster called a chupacabra asks you for a favor, it's hard to say no!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJorge knew there were other chupacabras besides his pal Carter out there, but he'd never seen any until one named Pepe arrives pleading for their help. A mysterious weeping phantom called La Llorona, known for generations as a child-snatcher, has been haunting the area where Pepe and his family live. She's responsible for the sudden rash of missing grown-ups, including the chupacabras' trusted friend!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut solving the mystery would mean secretly traveling from Jorge's grandparents' place in New Mexico to his hometown of Los Angeles, along with his loyal buddies Liza and Ernie. It's a bad idea and Jorge would get into HUGE trouble if he was discovered. But also . . . his mom is in LA and he would give anything to see her again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe young detectives embark on their riskiest adventure yet, unearthing clues that point to an elaborate scheme of vengeance. But is La Llorona real? And will her next victim be Jorge himself?\u003cb\u003eGeorge Lopez\u003c\/b\u003e's multifaceted career encompasses television, film, standup comedy, and late-night programs. He currently stars in and executive produces the NBC sitcom \u003ci\u003eLopez vs. Lopez\u003c\/i\u003e, and can also be seen in his Netflix original comedy special, \u003ci\u003eWe'll Do It for Half\u003c\/i\u003e. His autobiography \u003ci\u003eWhy You Crying?\u003c\/i\u003e was a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller. He has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was named one of the 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America by \u003ci\u003eTIME\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, and one of the Top Ten Favorite Television Personalities by The Harris Poll. ChupaCarter is his first series for children. Visit him online at GeorgeLopez.com.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRyan Calejo\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning author born and raised in South Florida. His critically acclaimed Charlie Hernández series has been featured in half a dozen state reading lists and is a two-time gold medal winner of the Florida Book Awards. Follow him @RyanCalejo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSanty Gutiérrez \u003c\/b\u003egrew up in Vigo and now lives in Corunna (La Coruña), both seaside cities in Spain. In his career, he has won acclaim as the Best Spanish Young Editorial Cartoonist and Best Galician Caricaturist, and he founded the BAOBAB Studio Artists' Collective. His wife and son are his personal inspirations. Follow him on Instagram @SantyGutierrez_Art.CHAPTER 1\u003cbr\u003eOkay, okay, I’m lying.\u003cbr\u003eThat’s not how it happened.\u003cbr\u003eWe weren’t supersleuths and we didn’t have an office with a view of Albuquerque and a cool bronze plaque.\u003cbr\u003eBut you’d be surprised how much trouble a kid from L.A. can get into when his mom sends him to the middle of Nowheresville, New Mexico, to live on his grandparents’ farm. He could meet a chupacabra one night while sitting on his roof, moon watching.\u003cbr\u003eThey could become best friends. The chupacab-ra’s name could be Carter.\u003cbr\u003eTrust me, it \u003ci\u003ecould \u003c\/i\u003ehappen . . .\u003cbr\u003eI know because it happened to me.\u003cbr\u003eMy name is Jorge Lopez, and I have a confession to make: my best friend is a seven-foot-tall bloodsucking monster, and ever since my mom sent me away to live a quiet, “normal” life, my life has been anything\u003ci\u003e but\u003c\/i\u003e. Just ask the talking sombrero we teamed up with to find the treasure of El Dorado last month. Or, if you think you’re brave enough, have a lollipop and chat with the local haunted piñata. They’ll tell you. If exercise is more your thing, go for a run with the killer vampire dogs called the dips . . . you’re guaranteed to get a great workout with them!\u003cbr\u003eAnyway, back to the sleuthing thing.\u003cbr\u003eLike I said, my three best buds and I weren’t professional detectives or anything like that. But word about some of the mysteries we’d solved had obviously gotten around, because we finally got our first “official” case.\u003cbr\u003eIt happened exactly one week after the last day of school. Liza, Ernie, Carter, and I were hanging out in the woods about a mile from my grandparents’ farm on a warm, sunny afternoon, climbing trees and just generally goofing around. After everything we’d been through over the last few months, we were all hoping for a nice, peaceful summer.\u003cbr\u003eTurns out, things were only about to take a turn for the \u003ci\u003escary. . .\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSomewhere behind me, I heard Ernie shriek, “Aaaahhh! A chupacabra!” And Liza and I gave each other looks like,\u003ci\u003eUh, you think he just noticed that about Carter now?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut when we turned and spotted the huge, fur-covered, fang-faced monster—who, by the way, most definitely\u003ci\u003e wasn’t\u003c\/i\u003eCarter!—the two of us started sounding an awful lot like our pal Ernie.\u003cbr\u003eThe monster waved and said hola, showing us a smiley mouthful of gleaming white fangs, which didn’t help us feel any less scared. He politely introduced himself. I think he said his name was Pepe, but it was kind of hard to hear him over our shrieks and screams of panic.\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eCarter! Where’s Carter?\u003c\/i\u003e” I shouted, looking frantically around for backup.\u003cbr\u003e“¡Ah, sí!” The strange chupacabra grinned. “¿Dóndeestá Carter?”\u003cbr\u003eJust then, the big guy dropped down from a mass of thick branches overhead, landing as gracefully as a cat right beside me. “Right here!” he said.\u003cbr\u003eBut suddenly he froze, his eyes narrowing suspiciously on the other chupacabra. “And I’m right\u003ci\u003ethere\u003c\/i\u003e, too . . . ?” I could see the supernova of panic exploding in the brown depths of Carter’s enormous eyes. “JORGE, HOW IS DIS POSSIBLE?” he cried.\u003cbr\u003e“Carter, that’s \u003ci\u003enot \u003c\/i\u003eyou!” Liza tried to explain. “That’s another chupacabra!”\u003cbr\u003eAt Liza’s inarguable logic, the big guy seemed to relax. A fangy grin that would send any goat (and probably most people) running for its life spread across his furry face. “Dat make sense! Hola, Not-Me!”\u003cbr\u003ePepe the chupacabra waved a skinny, clawed hand in return. “¡Hola, Carter! ¡Es un honor! I’ve very much been looking forward to meeting you and your amigos!”\u003cbr\u003e“You . . . you’ve heard of us?” Ernie asked, sounding more than a little surprised as he peeked cautiously out from over my shoulder.\u003cbr\u003e“¡Cómo no!” said Pepe with a sheepish giggle. “What chupacabra hasn’t heard of Carter and his three amigos? You are all muy famosos!”\u003cbr\u003e“Famous for . . . \u003ci\u003ewhat\u003c\/i\u003e, exactly?” Liza wanted to know.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“For what?”\u003c\/i\u003e Pepe looked at her like she’d just grown a third eyeball. “How about solving el misterio de la haunted piñata? Or finding the lost treasure of El Dorado!” Pepe was beaming at us now, happy as a mosquito at a blood bank. “I have to say, when I heard how the four of you gave all that treasure back to the people, I almost cried.”\u003cbr\u003eWhoa. So he really had heard of us. “Who told you about all that stuff?” I said, honestly curious.\u003cbr\u003ePepe laughed. “Gossip is not only a two-footer thing.” I’m assuming “two-footer” was chupacabra slang for humans. “Forest animals talk, too.”\u003cbr\u003e“You’re saying a little birdie told you?”\u003cbr\u003e“Actually, it was a blue jay,” said Pepe. He sounded like he might be telling the truth, too, so I decided not to poke any more fun. “Pajaritos get a nice bird’s-eye view of the world and pass along mucha información.”\u003cbr\u003eHuh. That kind of made sense when he put it like that. (Note to self: make sure there aren’t any birds flying by when you hide Grandma’s cooking pot so she can’t make her infamous pork stew.)\u003cbr\u003e“Do you live around here?” Liza asked.\u003cbr\u003ePepe shook his shaggy head. “No. Mi familia y yo live very near the Sierra Pelona mountains.”\u003cbr\u003e“Hey, isn’t that in Cali?” I said. “Right by Los Angeles?”\u003cbr\u003ePepe looked impressed. “You know those mountains?”\u003cbr\u003e“Well, not \u003ci\u003epersonally\u003c\/i\u003e or anything. But I’m from L.A.”\u003cbr\u003e“What are you doing way out here?” Liza asked the grinning chupacabra.\u003cbr\u003eSuddenly that bright, fangy smile froze, dimmed, and fell into a deep, fangless frown. “My clan is in trouble,” he revealed in a low voice. He sounded anxious now. Scared. And he looked it, too. “We are about to lose our ancestral home!”","brand":"Viking Books for Young Readers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233028321509,"sku":"NP9798217042418","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9798217042418.jpg?v=1767723727","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/chupacarter-and-the-curse-of-la-llorona-isbn-9798217042418","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}