Book Club Collection: 'Tumble' by Celia C. Perez

Twelve-year-old Adela “Addie” Ramírez 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.
(Summary provided by the publisher)

Celia C. Pérez is the daughter of a Mexican mother and a Cuban father.  Her debut book for young readers, The First Rule of Punk (Viking / Penguin), was a 2018 Pura Belpré Award Honor Book, a 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards honor book, and a winner of the 2018 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, a Junior Library Guild selection, and was included in several best of the year lists including the Amelia Bloomer List, NPR's Best Books of 2017, the Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books, the New York Public Library's Best Books for Kids, School Library Journal's Best of 2017, The Horn Book Magazine's Fanfare, and ALSC's Notable Children's Books. 

Her second book for young readers, Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers (Kokila / Penguin, 2019), is an Association of Library Services to Children Notable Children’s Book and was named to several best-of-the-year lists, including Rise: A Feminist Book Project List (formerly the Amelia Bloomer List), the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices 2020, the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Books of 2019, the Chicago Public Library’s Best Books of 2019, and the Washington Post‘s Best Children’s Books of 2019. 

Her third book for young readers, Tumble, is out now! 

She is originally from Miami and is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of South Florida. She lives with her family in Chicago where, in addition to writing books about lovable weirdos and outsiders, she works as a community college librarian.

Birthday: May 28 (a long time ago)                                                                                                                               Place of birth: Elizabeth, New Jersey (Judy Blume was born there too!)
Current hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Languages spoken: English, Spanglish, Spanish
Pronouns: She / Her
Ethnicity: Cuban (dad) and Mexican (mom)
Favorite things to read as a kid: Anything by Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary; Greek and Roman mythology; ghost stories and anything about the supernatural; Witch’s Sister by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor; The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear; The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; and lots of teen series like Sweet Valley High, The Girls of Canby Hall, Twilight: Where Darkness Begins (and lots of other teen series books).
Favorite books and authors / illustrators as an adult: Still The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving; picture books by Yuyi Morales, especially the Señor Calavera books; Kate DiCamillo; Arnold Lobel; Lynda Barry; Abby Hanlon’s Dory Fantasmagory books; Kevin Henkes.
Favorite color: Black. Okay, fine, green.
Favorite meal: Dessert 
Favorite drink: Coffee
Favorite animal: Dogs (especially Bagel)
Favorite thing about being an author: Research and revision. 
Favorite word: widdershins
Things I like to do (besides reading and writing): Spend time with family and good friends, go for walks, make “10 things” lists, spend time with friends, beach comb, bake, write letters and postcards to friends, take photos of interesting things I see when I’m out walking, make zines, listen to podcasts, visit vintaged / thrift shops.
Favorite thing to draw: A nutter butter (yes, like the cookie) with legs, arms, and a face.
Favorite holiday: Halloween
Favorite season: Autumn
Pets: One dog, an American Staffordshire Terrier named Mister Bagel (but we just call her Bagel).
Favorite bird: American Crow (Caw! Caw!)
(Biography provided by the author)