LIZARD IN A ZOOT SUIT

With a dash of mid-20th–century pulp monsters and a backdrop of 1940s Los Angeles, Finnegan mingles humanoid swamp creatures with victory rolls and zoot suits to highlight Mexican American families struggling to hold their own.

Cuata is soft, petite, and keen to help others. Her sister, Flaca, on the other hand, is, as her name suggests, tall, lean, and angular with a short temper and a rebellious edge. Though their characters represent, respectively, traditionally feminine norms and those who push against them, all their traits are needed to save a new friend in need. When a night out in downtown LA turns violent amid the clashes of the Zoot Suit Riots, Cuata and Flaca escape with the help of a subterranean creature who is part man and part lizard with echoes of the “Creature From the Black Lagoon.” The creature follows them home, where Cuata discovers that he has been separated from his family, and the girls must work together to reunite them while evading Navy men and a mysterious man-in-black scientist who want to get to the creature first. Though the adventure is fast-paced and fun, themes of racism, colonialism, counterculture, and family are all explored. Backmatter includes historical context about the zoot suiters and the events that triggered the 1943 riots as well as insight into Finnegan’s creative process.

Period pop horror that will lure readers in for important history lessons.