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TUMBLE

Celia C. Pérez

From the award-winning author of The First Rule of Punk, a dazzling novel about a young girl who collects the missing pieces of her origin story from the family of legendary luchadores she's never met.
Twelve-year-old Adela "Addie" Ramirez has a big decision to make when her stepfather proposes adoption. Addie loves Alex, the only father figure she's ever known, but with a new half brother due in a few months and a big school theater performance on her mind, everything suddenly feels like it's moving too fast. She has a million questions, and the first is about the young man in the photo she found hidden away in her mother's things.

Addie's sleuthing takes her to a New Mexico ranch, and her world expands to include the legendary Bravos: Rosie and Pancho, her paternal grandparents and former professional wrestlers; Eva and Maggie, her older identical twin cousins who love to spar in and out of the ring; Uncle Mateo, whose lucha couture and advice are unmatched; and Manny, her biological father, who's in the midst of a career comeback. As luchadores, the Bravos's legacy is strong. But being part of a family is so much harder - it's about showing up, taking off your mask, and working through challenges together.

Celia C. Pérez is the author of the award-winning and critically acclaimed books The First Rule of Punk and Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers. She lives in Chicago with her family, where in addition to writing books about lovable weirdos and outsiders, she works as a librarian. When she was in middle school, she filled diaries with recaps of televised wrestling matches.
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Published 2022-08-16 by Kokila

Comments

This fresh realistic fiction novel is heartwarming, adventurous, and strong... Middle grade readers will find resonance in the realistic flow of this novel. Pérez writes the struggle of Adela and her family in an authentic way throughout. The ups and downs mixed with the mystery of why Adela's mother kept so much of her life with her father a secret will have readers wanting more. Fans of luchador wrestlers and wrestling will -appreciate the sports themes woven all around the family story. Hand this to fans of Pérez's Strange Birds: A Field Guide to -Ruffling Feathers. A novel that wrestles with the complex emotions of family and beginnings; a must-have for any library collection serving tweens.

[A]n enjoyable and hopeful family story that revolves around the art and sport of wrestling as well as dynamic family relationships...This is a great read for upper elementary and middle school age readers featuring lively action and engaging dialogue that combine to tell a very entertaining, realistic, and well-developed story. The characters are believable, easy to relate to, and very likable. Any child who also likes professional wrestling will eat this right up. This book is sure to be popular, especially for fans of Perez's other books.

Adela loves mythology and draws parallels from it to wrestling's celebrity allure and peripatetic lifestyle. Pérez captures the action, rigor, and theater associated with the sport - full of colorful costumes and lucha libre masks, unpredictable moves and hijinks, and characters' everchanging personae. It all acts as an engaging backdrop to this story of family lost and found and of making amends.

Tumble is a complex, emotional story about loss, self-discovery and belonging, about forgetting who you were and remembering who you are. Pérez's depiction of Addie's journey... shines with honesty and touching authenticity... Tumble reminds readers that sometimes heroes (and villains) are not who they seem - both in life and in a wrestling ring.

Spanish (USA/Canada/Puerto Rico): Vintag Espanol

TUMBLE is a winner of the American Library Association's Awards: TUMBLE BY CELIA C. PÉREZ SELECTED AS A 2023 PURA BELPRÉ AWARD HONOR BOOK FOR CHILDREN'S NARRATION

Addie navigates her new connections, middle school drama, disappointments, big decisions, and surprises with courage and humor. The characterization is strong, and the book offers portrayals of authentic, complicated relationships that are written with care, showing readers that biological family and found family can be equally important... A plucky, heartwarming tale that celebrates the complexity of family relationships.

Humor and heartfelt emotion reign supreme in a quirky narrative that centers the importance of family, blood or blended... Layered, moving characterizations and Adela's voice, full of amusing witticisms, mark this charming novel, which glows with the love - and complications - of family.