Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe (Sal & Gabi #2)

In this heartwarming follow-up to 2019's Sal & Gabi Break the Universe, the titular duo is faced with a new set of challenges when a Gabi from a parallel dimension appears, claiming that Sal's father's efforts to close wormholes will actually destroy the universe. Faced with this desperate doppelgänger of his best friend and mounting evidence that his father's on the wrong track, Sal must find a way to save everyone he loves. Meanwhile, the machine designed to fix the membrane between worlds has gained sentience and has questions--"many, many questions"--for example, about the purpose of life. While Hernandez incorporates a genuine threat to his characters in this rousing adventure, the true focus is on friendship, family, and honesty: Sal remains a bastion of genuine decency, trying to atone for well-meaning mistakes, while Gabi's earnest enthusiasm comes with its own drawbacks, as exemplified by her determined duplicate, the so-called Fix!Gabi. With further emphasis on the protagonists' extended clans, this story also speaks to the importance of both biological and found family, and the impact of love and acceptance. Simultaneously, a subplot involving emergent AIs addresses the nature of personhood and self-awareness. Ages 8-12. Agent: DongWon Song, Morhaim Literary. (May)

Gr 4-8—Sal and Gabi are back with a delightful mix of middle school drama and sci-fi high jinks. In this sequel to Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, the duo, along with their friends and blended families, are attempting to repair the rips in time and space that they created in book one. When a Gabi from another dimension arrives and tells Sal that his father is about to destroy his universe as he knows it, he automatically believes her; but is this new Gabi as trustworthy as his own? These supernatural problems are combined with the stress of preparations for parents' night, a Broadway-level production at school, and Yasmany's escalating home problems. One of Hernandez's greatest strengths is his ability to blend tween problems with fantastical science fiction elements, without making either plotline seem unimportant. A blink-if-you-miss-it reference to Sal having an aromantic identity is something that those in the LGBTQIA community will appreciate, but might fly past a less-informed reader. New readers should be directed to the first book in the series, since the basics of Sal's powers and the life situations of his friends are not covered in this sequel. VERDICT Recommended for libraries serving middle grades, especially where the first book and other titles in the Rick Riordan imprint are popular.—Jeri Murphy, C.F. Simmons M.S., Aurora, IL