From Australia, Zusak debuts with an intense tale about boxing, brotherly solidarity, and searching for self-respect. The Wolfe family is on the skids, with Mr. Wolfe five months out of work, Mrs. Wolfe barely able to keep food on the table, older sister Sarah coming home drunk more and more often, and brothers Cameron and Ruben firmly tagged as troublemakers. When a schoolmate calls his sister a whore, Ruben reacts with such devastating speed and efficiency that a local racketeer makes a job offer. Soon Ruben and Cameron are both sneaking off every Sunday afternoon for low-paying and, needless to say, illegal prizefights in a grimy warehouse before bloodthirsty crowds. Though Cameron can give a good account of himself in the ring, he lacks Ruben's raw talent and ferocious concentration. But even as Ruben runs up a string of victories, he confesses to Cameron that he may know how to win, but not how to lose, not how to pick himself up off the floor and keep going the way Cameron and the rest of the Wolfes do. Ultimately, the brothers are forced to face each other in the ring, but Ruben, ever the brains of the outfit, finds a way to turn what might have been an ugly, divisive fight into a reaffirmation of love and respect. Zusak's eccentric language—a smell is "raucous," a pause "yawns through the air," a young woman has "eyes of sky"—gives Cameron's narrative a slightly offbeat air that suits the brothers' escapade: part lark, part a real effort (however misguided) to break from the unpromising path down which they seem to be going. The book closes on a rising note, with the brothers, and the whole Wolfe clan, closer than ever, showing real signs of regaining its feet. Engrossing. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-439-24188-X
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2001
In 1880s New York, a young lad with inadequate means but an abundance of character uses his head, heart, and fists to battle his way out of the tenements. Johnny Woods works 12 hours a day at a sweatshop ironing men’s shirts. Since his father deserted his mother and five younger brothers and sisters, this 15-year-old youngster has valiantly toiled to help put bread on the table. Desperate for some extra cash, he signs up to box in a bar, only to get arrested—fighting was then illegal—and thrown into prison. In an unexpected twist, it’s the best thing that ever happened to him. There he meets Michael O’Shaunnessey, “Professor of the Science of Boxing,” and a “born teacher.” Returning home fit and trained, Johnny finds a paucity of job opportunities for politically unconnected and uneducated youths like himself, except in the boxing ring. There he soon piles up an impressive string of victories. Hard-working and kind, Johnny returns to school, spending his meager spare time with his five siblings, giving them by turn the treat of his undivided attention. Karr’s first-person narrative is fast-paced and instantly engrossing, and she captures her character’s dreams and dilemmas as well as the rhythm and excitement of the boxing matches, and the scenes, scents, and squalor of tenement life. Although Johnny is a little too good to be true, readers should be rooting for the kid with the killer punch and the soul of a Boy Scout both in and out of the ring. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2000
ISBN: 0-374-30921-3
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
Music critic Orgill shares her love of music with her choice of women who influenced the music of their contemporaries and their successors, selecting the women according to her own aesthetic and experience in the music business. She highlights women who were “terrific” singers, who took charge of their lives and their careers, and who had an interesting story to tell. Each singer represents the decade in which she did her best or most prolific work. Sophie Tucker, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ethel Merman, Judy Garland, and Anita O’Day represent the past. Joan Baez, Bette Midler, Madonna, and Lucinda Williams are singing today. Each chapter includes basic biographical information, anecdotes that illustrate the qualities that make each singer memorable, and descriptions of the singers’ unique musical attributes. Historical photographs illustrate the text. Teens will relate to the inclusion of facts in sidebars such as “What Madonna Wore.” We learn that Ethel Merman looked for bargains in everyday dress but splurged on a mink-trimmed chartreuse evening gown. Orgill also notes what the singers earned and how that compared to average salaries at the time. In “What’s New, ” Orgill details the changes in recorded music from the 12-inch record introduced in 1902 to the digital videodisc of 1997. Missing, however, is the development of music on the Internet. Other sidebars bring attention to musical styles or to noteworthy musical events of each period. Also included is a discography and bibliography. A lively, informative, and enthusiastic title. (Nonfiction.12+)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-81991-9
Page Count: 168
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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