The First Rule of Punk: 11/13/17

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez is the story of a zine crafting middle schooler who is stuck in Chicago for two years. Malu (who doesn't want to be called Maria Luisa) loves punk and misses her father and her friends terribly.

Malu's personal style — dyed hair, vintage clothes, and Chuck Taylors, doesn't fit with Posada Middle School's dress code. She's also gotten the attention of the queen bee of the school — a girl I couldn't help but picture as Chloé Bourgeois from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug Girl and Chat Noir. She has a similar background: money, popularity, and over bearing parents.

This short book is how Malu finds her place at Posada while not giving up her love of Punk and her love of making zines. She's also trying to discover her own place and what it means to be Mexican American. Her mother, meanwhile, is so traditional, that Malu has dubbed her "Super Mexican" and makes zines about her adventures.

On the flip side of things, the mother of one of her new classmates knows about Latino music and the Mexican punk scene. She serves as a guide through a music history that Malu has only begun to tap into. Songs and singers that are connecting points for Malu are mentioned in the book.

I happened to listen to the audiobook. The narrator did a fantastic job bringing Malu and the other characters to life. One place I feel that the audiobook missed an opportunity was in the music. I realize that getting the license for these famous songs probably would have been difficult and expensive, but it would have brought so much to the whole audiobook experience. Likewise, a list of the songs as an appendix would have been nice.

Five stars

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