The Gumazing Gum Girl! (Book Series)

***The Gumazing Gum Girl!*** (sometimes referred to simply as ***Gum Girl!***) is an American chapter book series written and illustrated by Rhode Montijo (who was one of the creators of Mondo Media's *Happy Tree Friends*) and sometimes co-authored by Luke Reynolds, and published by Disney-Hyperion. The series began in August 20th, 2013.

## Premise

The series revolved around Gabby Gomez, a young Hispanic gum-obsessed Fillmore Elementary School student girl who becomes a sticky, stretchy superhero gum humanoid creature, Gum Girl, after accidentally electrocuting herself by blowing a bubble that was way too big. But Gabby must hide her secret from her parents. As Gum Girl, Gabby risks her life to fight criminals such as Robo-Chef.

## Characters

### Gum Girl

**Gabriella "Gabby" Gomez / Gum Girl** is a young girl who loves to chew gum, but her parents and teachers warned her against it, but she accidentally transforms herself into the sticky, stretchy superhero, Gum Girl. She usually wears a pink dress, a pink bow, and black mary-janes. When she is a superhero, her entire body was made up of chewing gum which gives her extreme “stretch ability.”

### Rico

**Rico Gomez** is Gabby's brother. He usually wears a shirt, some shorts, and a vest. He is the fan of Gum Girl and Ninja-Rina.

### Mrs. Gomez

**Mrs. Gomez** is Gabby's mother. She usually wears a pink shirt with a white collar, and a black skirt. She punishes Gabby from chewing gum.

### Dr. Gomez

**Dr. Gomez** is Gabby's father. He usually wears a white shirt and black pants. He was a dentist of his own appointment, Gomez Dental. He was similar to Dr. Phillip Sherman from Disney/Pixar's *Finding Nemo*.

### Ms. Smoot

**Ms. Smoot** is Gabby's teacher in Fillmore Elementary School, who hates tardiness.

### Mr. Hansen

**Mr. Hansen** is Gabby's former substitute teacher in Fillmore Elementary School. His identity was a hamster-like monster. He was similar to Sulu from *Captain Underpants* and Cuddle E. Hugs from *SpongeBob SquarePants*.

### Natalie

**Natalie Gooch** is a large stereotypical boyish-looking girl, who bullies Gabby, but becomes Gabby's friend. She was a secondary protagonist of the series. She can also be a member of The Cocodrilos.

### Ravi

**Ravi Rodriguez** is a young little boy, who becomes a news reporter.

### Ninja-Rina

**Ninja-Rina** is a third protagonist in the series. She is a masked ballerina with mad ninja skills. She knows jujitsu, basket-weaving, and ceramics.

### Ninja-Rina's Mother

**Ninja-Rina's mother** was the one that tries to pull the key off from the stand of the Ferris Wheel.

### Sol Azteca

**Sol Azteca** is a famous luchador who was Gabby's uncle.

### Chief Yee

**Yee** is a police chief who gives a key to Gum Girl and Ninja-Rina.

### Robo-Chef

**Robo-Chef** is a pastry chef who hates gum and serves as an antagonist in the series.

### The Underhander

**The Underhander** is an infamous luchador who threatens to steal the Jade Jaguar. He serves as an antagonist of the series

### The Everhander

**The Everhander** was Sol Azteca's host.

### Ikal

**Ikal the Quetzal** was Sol Azteca's pet Quetzal.

### The Jaguares

**Miguel, Alma, Lucas, and Litza (also known as The Jaguares)** are Sol Azteca's students.

### The Cocodrilos

**The Cocodrilos** are The Underhander's henchmen.

### The Escaped Monkeys

**The Escaped Monkeys** are the gag characters in the series. They are monkeys that hold spatulas and being escaped from the zoo after Gum Girl defeats Robo-Chef, starting in "Gum Luck".

## Upcoming characters

According to Kid's BookBuzz, there were upcoming characters for the series, Crab Man and Evil Wind.

## Inspiration

The series took an inspiration of comics and books from the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

## Reception

The book series was published to immediate critical acclaim. Some reviewers praised the book series as an exciting way to learn to read in English and in Spanish, particularly compared to the primers that it supplanted. Kirkus Reviews noted the book series' heavy use of humor and sequences. Kirkus wrote, "Perfectly paced and bursting with laughs....". BCCB wrote, "...a welcome addition to the ranks of early-elementary superkids."

## Trivia

* *The Gumazing Gum Girl!* was originally going to be a comic book series, but Disney said it will be better as a chapter book series.