Starred review from June 27, 2022
Humor and heartfelt emotion reign supreme in a quirky narrative that centers the importance of family, blood or blended. Twelve-year-old Adela Ramírez, who’s of Mexican descent, has a half brother on the way, a new addition to the stepfamily of her, her museum fossil preparator mother, and her stepfather, a wrestling fan who runs a diner. As the due date looms, Adela’s stepfather proposes a big step: formally adopting her. Adela loves him and even thinks of him as her dad, but the situation is complicated by the existence of her absent biological father, whose identity her mother has never revealed. After deducing it from an old photo, though, it turns out that Adela is descended from a line of wrestling superstars, the Bravo family, who welcome her warmly into their family and traditions. But her biological father remains distant, and with the question of adoption looming, Adela must decide what, if any, role she wants him to play in her life. Layered, moving characterizations and Adela’s voice, full of amusing witticisms, mark this charming novel, which glows with the love—and complications—of family. Ages 9–12. Agent: Stefanie Sanchez Von Borstel, Full Circle Literary.
Starred review from June 15, 2022
Adela Ram�rez's life is like a telenovela. At least that's how it feels for the seventh grader, who has discovered something that her remarried, pregnant mom has been hiding about her biological father's identity: He's actually Manny "The Mountain" Bravo, a famous luchador! When Addie decides that she would like to meet him, she is thrown into the world of the Bravo family's wrestling dynasty. Though Manny remains distant, Addie's other newly introduced relatives welcome her with open arms, and she is immediately included in the family pastime. Addie quickly learns that each member of the Bravo family is also wrestling with their own personal struggles, including living up to the family's illustrious name. On top of that, Addie must decide whether being adopted by her doting stepdad would be a positive next step. 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. Addie and her family are Mexican American; secondary characters are racially diverse, and one of Addie's uncles is a drag queen. A plucky, heartwarming tale that celebrates the complexity of family relationships. (Fiction. 9-14)
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August 1, 2022
Grades 4-7 Pura Belpr� Award-winning author P�rez (First Rule of Punk, 2017) is back with another heartwarming novel that explores what it means to be a family. Twelve-year-old Adela Ram�rez loves her little family, but when her stepfather asks if he could officially adopt her, what comes to Addie's mind is all the unanswered questions about her father: Who is he? And why isn't he in her life? Addie's mother always avoided the topic of her father, but before Addie agrees to the adoption, she needs her questions answered. Her sneaky detective work leads her to the doorstep of a famous luchador family, the Bravos. As Addie spends time with her long-lost family, she begins to reassemble her and her family's history while discovering who she is when she is given the opportunity to make choices for herself. Readers will feel an abundance of emotions as they explore the complexity of family relationships and blooming friendship. This coming-of-age novel is also great for readers who may enjoy a humorous novel about wrestling.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from September 1, 2022
Gr 5 Up-This fresh realistic fiction novel is heartwarming, adventurous, and strong. Adela Ram�rez is 12 and living in New Mexico. Growing up with a single mom never bothered her, until her stepfather Alex asks to adopt her. Now she has an overwhelming decision. She loves Alex and loves the life they have created with her mother and soon-to-arrive baby brother, but Adela has strong feelings about her father having to give up his parental rights in order for Alex to adopt her. Alex sets out on her own to find out who her father is, and why he left without a trace. Adela's detective skills serve her well, but what will she do now that her father is found and back in the picture? Will they be able to have the father-daughter relationship that she has dreamed of? Will she fit into his celebrity luchador wrestling family, the Bravos? Middle grade readers will find resonance in the realistic flow of this novel. P�rez 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 P�rez's Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers. VERDICT A novel that wrestles with the complex emotions of family and beginnings; a must-have for any library collection serving tweens.-Elizabeth Pelayo
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from September 1, 2022
Twelve-year-old Adela Ramirez has a loving family, a robust middle-school life, and an awesome best friend in her small New Mexico town, known for its love of wrestling: "Roswell had its aliens. Albuquerque had its hot air balloons. We had wrestling." Her paleontologist mom is expecting her second child, and her warm and supportive diner-owning stepdad has just asked to legally adopt her. This seemingly positive "happily ever after" gesture only dredges up and intensifies Adela's frustration at not knowing anything about her biological father, whom her mother refuses to talk about. The determined girl, along with her bestie Cy, starts investigating and piecing together bits of her past. She soon discovers that her father is a well-known professional wrestler named Manny "The Mountain" Bravo, and she subsequently meets the whole Bravo clan. Both of her grandparents were one-time world champions, and their kids, and a few grandkids, were and are fearsome competitors. Adela loves mythology and draws parallels from it to wrestling's celebrity allure and peripatetic lifestyle. Perez (The First Rule of Punk, rev. 7/17; Strange Birds, rev. 9/19) captures the action, rigor, and theater associated with the sport -- full of colorful costumes and lucha libre masks, unpredictable moves and hijinks, and characters' ever-changing personae. It all acts as an engaging backdrop to this story of family lost and found and of making amends. Manny may not be the biological father Adela had wanted him to be, but she is glad to have met him and made room for him and the Bravo dynasty in her heart. Available in Spanish as Tumbos (forthcoming in October). Luann Toth
(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
September 1, 2022
Twelve-year-old Adela Ramirez has a loving family, a robust middle-school life, and an awesome best friend in her small New Mexico town, known for its love of wrestling: "Roswell had its aliens. Albuquerque had its hot air balloons. We had wrestling." Her paleontologist mom is expecting her second child, and her warm and supportive diner-owning stepdad has just asked to legally adopt her. This seemingly positive "happily ever after" gesture only dredges up and intensifies Adela's frustration at not knowing anything about her biological father, whom her mother refuses to talk about. The determined girl, along with her bestie Cy, starts investigating and piecing together bits of her past. She soon discovers that her father is a well-known professional wrestler named Manny "The Mountain" Bravo, and she subsequently meets the whole Bravo clan. Both of her grandparents were one-time world champions, and their kids, and a few grandkids, were and are fearsome competitors. Adela loves mythology and draws parallels from it to wrestling's celebrity allure and peripatetic lifestyle. Perez (The First Rule of Punk, rev. 7/17; Strange Birds, rev. 9/19) captures the action, rigor, and theater associated with the sport -- full of colorful costumes and lucha libre masks, unpredictable moves and hijinks, and characters' ever-changing personae. It all acts as an engaging backdrop to this story of family lost and found and of making amends. Manny may not be the biological father Adela had wanted him to be, but she is glad to have met him and made room for him and the Bravo dynasty in her heart. Available in Spanish as Tumbos (forthcoming in October). Luann Toth
(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
July 1, 2022
Twelve-year-old Adela Ramirez has a loving family, a robust middle-school life, and an awesome best friend in her small New Mexico town, known for its love of wresling: "Roswell had its aliens. Albuquerque had its hot air balloons. We had wrestling." Her paleontologist mom is expecting her second child, and her warm and supportive diner-owning stepdad has just asked to legally adopt her. This seemingly positive "happily ever after" gesture only dredges up and intensifies Adela's frustration at not knowing anything about her biological father, whom her mother refuses to talk about. The determined girl, along with her bestie Cy, starts investigating and piecing together bits of her past. She soon discovers that her father is a well-known professional wrestler named Manny "The Mountain" Bravo, and she subsequently meets the whole Bravo clan. Both of her grandparents were one-time world champions, and their kids, and a few grandkids, were and are fearsome competitors. Adela loves mythology and draws parallels from it to wrestling's celebrity allure and peripatetic lifestyle. Perez (The First Rule of Punk, rev. 7/17; Strange Birds, rev. 9/19) captures the action, rigor, and theater associated with the sport -- full of colorful costumes and lucha libre masks, unpredictable moves and hijinks, and characters' ever-changing personae. It all acts as an engaging backdrop to this story of family lost and found and of making amends. Manny may not be the biological father Adela had wanted him to be, but she is glad to have met him and made room for him and the Bravo dynasty in her heart. Available in Spanish as Tumbos (forthcoming in October).
(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)