Sal and Gabi Break the Universe

Carlos Hernandez, a first-generation Cuban American author, published Sal and Gabi Break the Universe in 2019 to critical acclaim. A sequel, Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe, was published in 2020. It won the Pura Belpré award in 2020 for portraying and celebrating the Latino cultural experience in children’s literature. The story follows the adventures of Sal Vidón as he navigates a new school and the ability to manipulate the multiverse. Sal’s exploits explore the issues of friendship, grief and loss, and the implications of the multiverse.

This guide refers to the 2019 Rick Riordan Presents Disney Hyperion e-book edition.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of grief, loss, child and infant illness, medical care (specifically regarding diabetes and neonatal immunodeficiencies), and bullying. It also references incidents of child abuse.

Plot Summary

Following his mother's death, 13-year-old Salvador Alberto Dorado Vidón, or Sal, acquired the ability to navigate the multiverse through meditation, allowing him to manipulate rifts and retrieve items from alternate dimensions.

Sal faces a tumultuous third day at Culeco Academy of the Arts. In response to Sal’s attempt to help him open his locker, a frustrated Yasmany Robles mocks Sal and starts escalating his bullying to a physical confrontation, knocking Sal’s diabetes bag out of his hands. Leveraging his skills as a magician, Sal improvises a diversion by claiming Yasmany hides dead chickens in his locker. The spectacle ends with an entire dead chicken from another reality falling out of Yasmany’s locker.

Both Sal and Yasmany end up in the principal’s office, and it’s not the first time for either boy. However, while Sal’s prior visits focused on issues with managing his diabetes, Yasmany has a history of bullying. Things seem to be going Sal’s way until student council president Gabrielle (Gabi) Reál arrives as Yasmany’s lawyer. Sensing himself losing ground, Sal calms himself and seemingly erases the chicken and associated evidence through meditation, thereby convincing the principal that the stunt was an illusion, frustrating Gabi. Sal joins Gabi in helping Yasmany escape expulsion; the principal downgrades his punishment to detention and the assignment of an essay on type 1 diabetes.

Frustrated by her defeat, Gabi seeks revenge by giving a lie detector demonstration on “show-and-tell” day. Sal, unable to avoid the device, uses his showmanship skills to suggest he’s part of the act—under this disguise, he tells the truth about his abilities. The bewildered class applauds.

On the way home, distracted by the events of the day, Sal nearly gets hit by a car. Due to the shock, Sal inadvertently summons yet another alternate-universe version of his deceased mother, “Mami Muerta,” who in the past has invariably caused chaos at home. Through clever excuses and distraction, Sal avoids getting in trouble with his Papi and American Stepmom until low blood sugar lands him in the hospital—his fainting causes the latest Mami Muerta to disappear.

At the hospital, Sal encounters Gabi’s family celebrating her brother Iggy’s one-month birthday. Gabi explains that Iggy has an immunodeficiency, and the prognosis is not good. The two bond as Sal shows respect for Gabi’s family and empathizes with her grief over her brother’s illness. However, the next day at school, when Gabi publishes her article about Sal and the chicken incident, Sal is appalled. The insensitive article suggests that Sal practices “black magic”; intending only to elevate Sal’s reputation as a magician, Gabi failed to take into account how many students are genuine believers in brujería. In retaliation, Sal performs a magic trick that involves flicking a fake tarantula at Gabi. Gabi, an arachnophobe, falls to the ground screaming, and Sal realizes he has gone too far. He immediately and sincerely apologizes. Gabi collects herself and accepts.

Despite mending his relationship with Gabi, Sal still faces fallout from Gabi’s article. In an effort to fix the perception of Gladis, an especially superstitious student, Sal attempts a magic trick, replacing her scarf with an “evil eye” scarf from an alternate universe. The trick backfires, and Sal ends up in detention.

After detention, Sal and Gabi head to Sal’s house so Gabi can interview him. Upon arrival, they find the remembranation machine has taken over Sal’s entire living room. One of the scientists setting up the device, Bonita, is a Gabi dad and a robot. Bonita receives a message that Iggy’s health has turned for the worse, and she leaves with Gabi.

On American Stepmom’s advice, Sal asks Gabi how he can help her. Gabi asks Sal to gather her notes at school. Sal coerces several students to take notes for Gabi, one of whom is an alternate-universe Gladis—she has come to retrieve her “evil eye” scarf. As Sal juggles the task for Gabi with trying to ensure his powers aren’t causing more problems, he discovers that he can inhale calamitrons, the residue left from dimensional rifts. While this discovery is exciting, he questions how doing so may later affect him. In addition, when alternate-universe Gladis returns to her universe, Sal ponders how she leaves no calamitrons behind.

Sal discovers Yasmany has problems at home, though nobody will share more specific information. Concerned but unable to help, Sal focuses on visiting Gabi in the hospital. The two of them work on an Everyman play project, which they choose to develop as a way of laughing in the face of death. As they work, Sal tells Gabi about snorting a calamitron; she insists they recreate the experiment immediately. After Gabi gains permission, the two return to the school that very evening.

At the school, Sal inhales some more calamitrons, confirming his ability to do so. The revelation is interrupted, however, when they find Yasmany, who Gabi realizes has run away from home. Sal and Gabi promptly return to the hospital with Yasmany in tow. They all spend the night at the hospital, and the next day, after the adults ensure Yasmany is safe, Sal and Gabi continue working on the play before performing it for their families and the hospital staff. After the successful performance, Sal and his family head home only to receive a troubling text message.

Iggy’s immune system is shutting down. Sal and his family immediately return to the hospital, where a desperate Gabi begs Sal to save her brother. After initially refusing, given his failures to find his Mami, he reconsiders—while swapping Iggy is not an option, as Gabi’s Iggy is irreplaceable, Sal does offer to try exploring the multiverse for a solution.

Sal and Gabi slip into meditation together, sliding through the multiverse until they land in an alternate universe where Iggy is dying from meningitis rather than from an immunodeficiency. With help from the denizens of the alternate universe, including a particularly convincing version of Sal’s Mami, Sal joins the two versions of Iggy, allowing them to heal each other.

The resolution sees Yasmany in a stable living situation, Sal adjusting to school life, and a healthy Iggy—the one catch being that the infant now seems to serve as a portal bridging multiple universes, at least for a large orange cat. The tale concludes with Sal pulling a final playful prank on Gabi, showcasing the enduring bond formed amid extraordinary challenges.