Soul Enchilada [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

David Macinnis Gill (Author), Michelle Carmen Gomez (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 7, 2009

Girl meets boy at a car wash. "Dog," she says. "Dude," he says. And probably this would have been a sweet teen romance.... If Beals hadn't been sitting next to her in the car. If Beals hadn't been a supernatural repo man looking to repossess her car. And to possess her. Repossession is 9/10ths of the law: Meet the other 10th. David Macinnis Gill delivers the whole enchilada. With a side of soul.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Eunice “Bug” Smoot is a recent high-school graduate with all sorts of problems: she’s about to get evicted from the flophouse apartment she rents, she’s just been fired from her pizza-delivery job, and it seems like every day some idiot is giving her crap for being half-African American and half-Tejana. The only light in her life is her dead grandfather’s classic 1958 Cadillac Biarritz—and even that goes down the tubes when a demon named Mr. Beals materializes in the passenger seat and demands repossession of the vehicle. Turns out, her grandfather financed the car by selling his soul. Luckily, Bug’s crush, a car-wash attendant, just happens to moonlight for the International Supernatural Immigration Service and he’s got some ideas about how to deport this “Illegal.” Gill’s debut has weirdness to spare: there’s insect-puking villains, pizza-delivery contests with Satan, and some very high-stakes basketball. At times it can all be too much to swallow, but Bug is a refreshingly gutsy female protagonist with an attitude that will win over readers searching for something different. Grades 7-10. --Daniel Kraus --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Gill…knows what will make teens laugh.” (Publishers Weekly )

“In this fun spin on the age-old danger of deals with the devil, readers will cheer and worry as sassy Eunice ‘Bug’ Smoot fights both the literal and metaphorical demons that plague her. Wonderful and unexpectedly touching, this is a book meant for re-reading. Good stuff!” (Melissa Marr, New York Times Bestselling Author of Wicked Lovely )

“Soul Enchilada is smart and funny and a bunch of fun to read. For years David Gill has been a powerful voice for Young Adult literature; now he is a powerful voice of Young Adult literature…You’re gonna love Bug.” (Chris Crutcher, author of Deadline )

“I want you all to know you are in for a treat when David Gill’s Soul Enchilada comes out next year. It has, hands down, one of the most unique premises, setting, and voices I have heard in a long time!” (Mary Pearson, author of The Adoration of Jenna Fox )

“Gill scores big in this action-packed, power-punch of a debut…All readers can do is buckle their seatbelts, close their eyes and take the plunge.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423382250
• ISBN-13: 978-1423382256
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bug vs. the Devil (and a Caddy, Too), June 16, 2009

By 

K. Coombs (Utah, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soul Enchilada (Hardcover)

Sometimes you read a lot of books that just kind of blur together. Other times you read something like Soul Enchilada. I have to tell you, even when the plot showed traces of strain in spots, I didn't care. Bug Smoot is quite simply one of the most real, funny, gutsy, and poignant characters I've met in a long time. And the other characters are dimensional, amusing, and colorful in their own right.

The plot of Soul Enchilada reaches out and grabs you by the lapels, too. Here's a nice hypothetical: What do you do when the repo man comes, and he's a devil? Oh, and he tells you that your recently deceased grandfather traded his soul for the Caddy that's your only inheritance, the one you're driving to deliver pizzas and barely make your rent? But since your grandfather managed to evade the repo man when he died, you're left holding the hell bag. And senior demon Mr. Beals is not just after the car.

There are more twists and turns along the way in this remarkable Tex-Mex debut, but suffice it to say that Bug (who is half black, half Latino) gets some help from a demon-hunting Latino boy named Pesto who wields a mean can of hair spray. She is also assisted by a mysterious coyote, some nerdy Men in Black types, a lawyer with a secret agenda, Pesto's bruja mother, and her own mad driving and basketball skills. Numerous crosses and double crosses later--including a little diablo ex machina--Bug wins the day. In terms of plotting, I found the climactic scenes a little off, but this author's "off" still beats most writers' "on" any time.

I haven't even talked about Gill's style, especially the way he writes narrator Bug's voice. Here are a few of my favorite bits:

"'Stop tea-bagging my body,' said the first guy, who had long, stringy blond hair and a head shaped like the center branch of a saguaro cactus."

"'I so owned you. In fact, I pawned you.' The second guy had a gut like a pregnant woman and a black, lower-lip beard."

"The only time I ever messed around with a séance was when me and Papa C were staying in this falling-down rental house in Chihuahiuta, and these skanky girls next door said they could do voodoo. There wasn't nothing in the Bible about suffering voodoo, so I snuck out at night to a shed in the back of their house.

They brought a candle, a Monopoly set, and a parakeet. The candle was for light so spirits could find their way, and the Monopoly board was our Ouija board because their mama wouldn't let them buy one at the SuperStore. They had a parakeet because you needed a chicken's foot to do voodoo, and they didn't have a chicken. The parakeet was their mama's, and she'd get mad if its foot went missing, so they brought the whole bird, chirping and pecking them whenever it could. I was glad they didn't chop off the foot because I didn't like the idea of hurting a living thing, even to do voodoo."

"'I wish you was an alarm clock so I could slap your snooze bar.'"

"My tongue was all sticky, too, like the floor of a dollar movie theatre."

I hope I've convinced you to spend some time with Bug Smoot. Her flaws are just as delightful as her strengths, and I think you'll find that you're cheering her on and booing Mr. Beals far more than the hero/villain/reader triangle traditionally calls for.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Enjoyable And Hilarious Contemporary Look At The Devil's Temptations, June 3, 2009

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Enchilada (Hardcover)

Life hasn't always been easy for 18-year-old Eunice "Bug" Smoot. Her mother died in a kitchen fire when Bug was very young and helpless. Bug's deadbeat father has never been present in her life. And Papa C, Bug's grandfather, left her an orphan for the third time just last year. He also left her one of the only things he owned --- a 1958 Cadillac Biarritz. Now Bug barely scrapes by delivering pizzas and paying her rent on time.

It isn't until Bug gets fired from her job, again, that matters take a turn for the worse. Mr. Beals, a repossession agent working for Lucifer, shows up in the front seat of the Cadillac during a routine car wash and claims ownership of the car according to a contract signed long ago by Papa C. Apparently Bug's grandfather sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his dream car, and put Bug's soul up as collateral. With the clock ticking, Bug turns to the last person she thought would help: her crush, Pesto.

It turns out Pesto is more than an ordinary car-wash manager. He also works in the Waste and Disposal division of the ISIS, the International Supernatural Immigration Service. Pesto is responsible for tracking down illegal djinn, or demons, that enter the world and send them packing. By helping Bug, he hopes to be promoted --- and capture Bug's heart. Pesto and Bug enlist the help of E. Figg, a lawyer specializing in legal matters of the soul, and arrange a friendly pizza delivery competition between the Devil and Bug. If Bug delivers the pizza first, she gets to keep her soul and the car. If not, then Bug must fulfill the obligations of the contract.

Making a deal with the Devil is never as easy as it seems. Mr. Beals backhandedly uses the competition to his advantage to finally escape servitude to his master. He sets out to rule the earthly plane and hatches a plan to overthrow the Devil and become the most powerful demon ever. Beelzebub's plan for total domination includes plagues, utter destruction, and the collection of numerous souls --- especially Bug's. With her immortality on the line, Bug must once again find a way to save her soul.

In his debut novel, David Macinnis Gill has created an offbeat protagonist who is both endearing and genuine. Bug is an everyday down-on-your-luck individual who refuses to give in to what is easy. Instead, she works hard for what she holds most dear, even when she thinks she doesn't deserve it. Most people would give in to the Devil and become a soul enchilada --- a simple snack --- but Bug displays a level of decency in a most unsuspecting individual. Gill shows us that good and honest people still exist in all walks of life.

What would I sell my soul to the Devil for? I kept wondering about this question as I read the book. Would I give in for something as simple as a classic car, or would I wait for something bigger? Is there anything temporary that would be worth enough? These questions have been explored in literature throughout the centuries, and SOUL ENCHILADA provides an enjoyable and hilarious contemporary look at how the Devil still provides those little temptations that make us second-guess our motivations and desires.

--- Reviewed by Benjamin Boche

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive first book, April 7, 2009

By 

Allison Fraclose (Marana, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul Enchilada (Hardcover)

Eunice "Bug" Smoot already has a tough time surviving in the world, and her situation grows worse one day when she wakes to the sound of her landlord banging on her door, demanding rent she doesn't have. Then she finds out that some jerk has egged her car--her late grandfather's prized 1958 Cadillac Biarritz, the only thing of value he left her. Then, right in front of her, a coyote decides to urinate on the whitewalls. Perfect! Of course, her boss, Vinnie, is none too happy that she'll be late again, so that she can wash that stuff off her car before the El Paso sun bakes it on, but Bug has little choice.

Until a demon shows up to repossess the Cadillac.

Bug knows that she can't give up that car for anything if she's going to continue to support herself, and she luckily finds help through her friend, Pesto, who apparently does more than wash cars for a living. Through his connections as an immigration agent to the Underworld, they discover that Bug's Papa C put up her soul and his own as collateral on the Cadillac. Now that her grandfather's soul is evading capture, the demon Beals has come to collect. With a few friends, her own wits, and her mad driving skills, Bug has to bring herself to make a deal that the devil himself can't refuse.

With a strong central character and distinctive voice, this debut novel drives onto the YA scene as an instant classic.