The First Rule of Punk

I absolutely fell in love with the spunk of Mexican American tween Malú when I first picked up this amazing book!

Her love of punk rock and her subsequent discovery of the genre’s connection to her Mexican roots, her desire to be accepted by her mother and her new schoolmates—just as she is, and her fight against her school to allow everyone there to express themselves as authentically as they can had me rooting for her at every page. Oh, and did I mention the super fun zine drawings?

Malú ((María Luisa O’Neill-Morales) is a tween punker who moves across the country with her ‘Super Mexican’ mom who will do anything to make her daughter into more of a respected senorita who embraces her heritage.

But Malú needs to find out who she is in her own way—a very punk way to do things. And her father reminds her of the most important part of being punk, (or not being punk at all for that matter) and it is this: be yourself. Malú finds her true self in creating a punk band with her newfound friends and defying the… show more.

With her punk rock style, music taste, and attitude, Malú is a kid who likes to live life out loud! As she navigates her time at a new school, she’s faced with big questions about her identity and what it means to be true to yourself. Alongside a (literal) band of misfits, she challenges the status quo and fights for the right of everyone to be who they want to be. The book itself is filled with cool collaged art pages of Malú’s zines, which help bring her world to life!