ABANDONED. MG Coming of Age?; boy wants to time travel to save his parents

[Inna]

Read this book between 2007-2012.

MG chapter book about a boy who wanted to save his parents and had some strategy to travel back in time. It was dependent on the birthdays of a certain celebrity of the air date of a certain episode of Charlie's Angels, because the episode aired when his parents died (I think). He researched the air dates or birthdays and I think the plan fell through because he missed something. The parents were shot in a convenience store, if I recall correctly. He eventually accepts that they are dead and moves on.

The boy was also friends with an Indian man, and there was a chapter where he talked about how the man would sell samosas or some type of Indian street food from a vendor's cart. This was in a city, probably NYC, may not be mentioned expressly. He visited the man's house and talked about Bollywood films and how they have song and dance in them, different from American movies.

I don't remember anything about the cover, unfortunately, or any character's names. Main character may have had a little sister.

[Kate]

Inna, you have good details in your first post. You can bump your thread every month or so. Then more people will see it, because you'll move your thread to the top of the Unsolved folder.

[Ayshe]

Is it Slob?

[Kris]

Ayshe's suggestion of Slob by Ellen Potter looks promising.

"Two years earlier, he was hiding in the basement of the family store, listening as his parents were killed by an intruder. Adopted by the 911 operator who took his call after the murders, he dreams of identifying the perpetrator." | Many references to Charlie's Angels, dates of retro TV episodes, and Penny Marshall's birthday.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Inna, was your book "Slob" or are you still looking?

[Kris]

No response, moving to Abandoned folder.

Inna (OP) was last active on the site in July 2017.