Tumble follows the journey of 12-year-old Adela “Addie” Ramírez as she meets and learns about her biological father and his family, a dynasty of luchadores. Lucha libre, as a cultural form of storytelling and entertainment, is an important aspect of the story, and Pérez uses it to draw out important themes in the book.

The origins of lucha libre date back to the late 19th century, when a Mexican wrestler developed this particular style of wrestling modeled on Greco-Roman traditions. It grew in popularity over the next couple of decades, leading up to Salvador Lutteroth Gonzalez—known as “the father of lucha libre”—establishing the Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre or EMLL, the Mexican Wrestling Organisation. The organization eventually became the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre or CMLL, the World Wrestling Council (“Lucha Libre—An Introduction to Mexican Wrestling.” Lonely Planet).

Lucha libre gained mainstream popularity largely due to two events: the advent of television and the appearance of the masked wrestler El Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata (the Saint, the Silver Masked Man), in 1942. After winning an eight-way battle in his first appearance, El Santo went on to have a decades-long career, emerging as the most popular luchador in history.