Tito the Bonecrusher

Starred review from January 15, 2019
To rescue his father from prison, 11-year-old Oliver "Spaghetti-O" Jones tries to get a little help from his favorite luchador.After months of legal woes, Oliver's father ends up in a Florida correctional center despite his assurances to Oliver and his irritable big sister, Louisa, that "[e]verything was going to be fine." Now Louisa won't even talk to their father, but Oliver's not giving up that easily. Inspired by his favorite luchador-turned-action hero, Tito the Bonecrusher (motto: "Never quit trying!"), Oliver needs to concoct a plan to bust his father out of prison. To do so, he must infiltrate a charity gala to meet the bombastic action star, who holds the know-how required for such a daring caper. Thomson's excellent middle-grade debut plumbs the absurdity and desperation inherent in a painful situation. Throughout the ordeal, Oliver battles and suppresses his grief and pain in a way that younger readers can recognize and perhaps understand amid the humor; more than anything, it's this implicit focus that makes this novel a great one. Going along for the tumultuous ride is Oliver's best friend, Brain (a girl genius), and some unexpected allies. Each scheme (celebrity photos with forged signatures, skipping detention via a decoy) seems more outrageous than the last, but when the day of the gala arrives, will Oliver have what it takes to save the day? A white default is assumed.An uplifting gem. (Fiction. 8-11)

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March 1, 2019
Grades 4-6 Fifth-grader Oliver's divorced dad is headed for prison (for unspecified financial chicanery), but of course he must be innocent. Who better to consult on an escape plan than pro wrestler and action film star Tito the Bonecrusher, whose movies all involve rescuing hostages or captives? With this line of reasoning, Oliver and his capable best friend Brianna, aptly nicknamed Brain, launch a complex scheme to crash a charity ball that the always-masked hero is scheduled to attend, while, unsurprisingly, keeping parents, stepparents, and school officials in the dark. It would be fair to say that everything proceeds to go amiss, though help from unexpected allies and one humongous coincidence balances the scales. Thomson endows her protagonist with an emotional intelligence that plays uncomfortably against both his na�vet� and his unappealing habit of cheating on tests, copying homework, and lying to teachers without more than passing flickers of guilt. Still, his mishaps, his intense hero worship, and the multiple elements of wish fulfillment in his quixotic agenda will strike sympathetic chords in middle-grade readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)