Lone Star Legend

Publisher's Summary. When Sandy Saavedra lands her dream job with the popular website ¡Latino Now!, she can't wait to write hard-hitting pieces to combat all those stupid Latino stereotypes. While visions of Pulitzers dance in her head, her editor in chief is suddenly laid off, replaced by the infamous Dolores Villanueva O'Sullivan. Dolores has one mission: make ¡Latino Now! an internet phenomenon, no matter how many pandering puff pieces she has to pack onto its pages. Sandy doesn't see how she can keep this job without losing her soul, especially when she's sent to Middle-of-Nowhere Texas to investigate the dumbest legend her people ever created, the Chupacabra.

Review. In Lone Star Legend by Gwendolyn Zepeda the Latina heroine Dominga Saavedra a.k.a. Sandy S. is a serious young writer for a respected web site LatinoNow as well as the keeper of an anonymous personal blog My Modern TragiComedy. All of this changes when LatinoNow is transformed into Nacho Papi, a gossipy Latino web site.

The novel follows Sandy S.’s dance with the devils at Nacho Papi who offer nuggets of fame and fortune in exchange for journalistic integrity. To stay gainfully employed Sandy undergoes a personal makeover and learns to write snarky celebrity copy. Soon Sandy S. becomes a minor celebrity with all of the corresponding benefits and detriments that go with living in the public eye. She also befriends an elderly goat farmer, “the Chupacabra” (literally translated as the goat sucker) who offers Sandy S. and her readers common sense advice.

Although Lone Star Legend follows a fairly predictable plotline trajectory, the characters and blog entries are unique and refreshing! Zepeda knows how to craft witty passages and interesting characters. In addition, the book also features a bilingual reading guide with great discussion questions.

Lone Star Legend is a fun multicultural read!


Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 25, 2010), 352 pages
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.