美国国家公共电台 NPR When She's Told Girls Can't Be Superheroes, 'Lucia The Luchadora' Grabs Her Mask

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

She wears a mask and a cape¹, and she faces down her detractors bravely on the playground. "Lucia The Luchadora" is the new children's book from Cynthia Leonor Garza where Little Lucia is told girls can't be superheroes. Her response is to feel mad, kind of spicy² mad. Cynthia Leonor Garza joins us now from Texas Public Radio in San Antonio. Welcome.

CYNTHIA LEONOR GARZA: Thank you for having me, Lulu.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So female superheroes are finally all the rage now. I'd like to know what inspired this story, which you obviously wrote well before "Wonder Woman" came out and killed it at the box office.

GARZA: Yeah. Well, Wonder Woman's been around for a long time. But the inspiration from this came, actually, from my young daughter. And she had received a cape for Christmas that my sister-in-law made for her. And it was a Hello Kitty cape. It was very girly, and it had her initial in the back, a K for her name.

So it was right after Christmas that I saw her running around with her cousin, doing these, like, highflying leaps and just plain superhero. And, you know, it just hit me. I have to write a story about a little girl who wants to be a superhero. And, you know, when I started thinking about masks, I immediately thought of lucha libre, which I grew up with. So I made her into a luchadora.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Lucha libre is the fantastic professional Mexican wrestling where there are super heroes and villains³. And everyone wears, as you mention, these very distinctive⁴ masks. Making Lucia a luchadora, though - what was important about that?

GARZA: The mask. I've always been captivated by the mask. I think it was just the perfect vehicle for telling this story of a girl who wants to be a superhero - and trying to hide her identity as a girl because she's told by the boys that girls can't be superheroes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Was it hard getting a book based on Mexican wrestling made?

GARZA: When I was trying to get this book published, I had an interesting conversation with an agent. And one thing that came up was, you know, we really love the book. But I think that there might be too many lucha libre stories out there already.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Because you can only really have one or two (laughter).

GARZA: Exactly.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: There can be a million Supermans, but not that many luchadoras.

GARZA: That was exactly my response. I was just sort of struck by it, you know, and my response was, well, how many ninja books are out there? How many books about firetrucks? Why can there only be two books about lucha libre on the market? You know, it's these barriers that just sort of throw you for a loop as a writer when you're going out there with your work. So I think if books like this succeed, sometimes, it's in spite of being a bicultural or a bilingual book, not because of it.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You recently went on a book tour. Who's showing up at your tours, and what are they saying?

GARZA: I've gotten a mix of folks, you know, kids who like wrestling or girls who are interested in superheroes - a lot of girls, which is great. You know, they're really excited to see a girl superhero. You know, I've also heard little girls when I visited schools tell me that they look like Lucia, that they have this big, poofy, brown hair.

And, you know, I've met a couple of Lucias and signed at least two dozen books for Lucias. So children are paying attention to what is in the picture books that they are reading. So, you know, I think the grown-ups should be paying attention, too. I think publishers should pay attention. They notice these things. And, you know, we should be giving them books where children can see themselves in.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: We should mention you are married to NPR's East Africa correspondent, Eyder Peralta, and you are now living in Nairobi. Coming from Texas and then D.C., what inspires you about those surroundings, and has it influenced your new writing?

GARZA: It definitely has, yeah. Coming from Texas, I grew up on the border. And it's this wonderful mix of two worlds. I sort of see that now in Kenya. We live in Nairobi, which is a very urban, modern city. And it's, you know, pushed up against this gorgeous natural world where there's just animals. You can go on safaris⁵. And so it's these two worlds that collide also. So I sort of feel like I've gone from one place that had a mix of two worlds to another place.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Cynthia Leonor Garza, thank you so much.

GARZA: Thank you.

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

3 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

5 safaris   

n.游猎，陆路旅行（尤指在东非或中非）( safari的名词复数 )；类似游猎的假日旅行

参考例句：

• I've had too many safaris with rich dentists to listen to any more suicidal ideas. 我已经带过太多有钱牙科医生的狩猎队，我不能再听取任何自杀性建议了。 来自电影对白
• Camel diving safaris are a popular attraction in South Sinai. 骆驼的潜水之旅是南西奈一个受欢迎的景观。 来自互联网