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Fighting Ruben Wolfe
Cover of Fighting Ruben Wolfe
Fighting Ruben Wolfe
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I say, 'Don't lose your heart, Rube.' And very clearly, without moving, my brother answers me. He says, 'I'm not tryin' to lose it, Cam. I'm tryin' to find it.'
The Wolfe brothers know how to fight. They've been fighting all their lives. Now there's something more at stake than just winning.
A powerful, poignant novel from the author of the international bestseller, The Book Thief.

I say, 'Don't lose your heart, Rube.' And very clearly, without moving, my brother answers me. He says, 'I'm not tryin' to lose it, Cam. I'm tryin' to find it.'
The Wolfe brothers know how to fight. They've been fighting all their lives. Now there's something more at stake than just winning.
A powerful, poignant novel from the author of the international bestseller, The Book Thief.

Available formats-
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB eBook
Languages:-
Copies-
  • Available:
    1
  • Library copies:
    1
Levels-
  • ATOS:
  • Lexile:
    460
  • Interest Level:
  • Text Difficulty:
    1 - 2


 
Awards-
About the Author-
  • MARKUS ZUSAK is the bestselling author of six novels, including THE BOOK THIEF. His books have been translated into more than forty languages, to both popular and critical acclaim. He lives in Sydney with his wife and two children.
    Find Markus on his blog www.zusakbooks.com
    Facebook /markuszusak
    Instagram @markuszusak
    .

Reviews-
  • Publisher's Weekly

    February 26, 2001

    In earthy, working-class dialect, Australian novelist Zusak offers a lot of sports action as well as a sensitive inspection of sibling relationships and family pride. Times are tough for the Wolfe family now that Mr. Wolfe, a plumber, has been injured on the job ("He's half a man, because it seems that when a man can't work and when his wife and kids earn all the money, a man becomes half a man"). While narrator Cameron tends to keep his family's troubles locked inside, his brother Ruben lashes out with his fists. So, when a classmate taunts the boys with a derogatory remark about their sister, who has been "gettin' around a bit," Ruben pummels him. News of the fight spreads, and, a few days later, Ruben and Cameron, who has "heart" ("People throw money into the ring corners if they think you've got heart," says the organizer), are invited to participate in illegal boxing matches. Through Cameron's voice and observations of everything from family dinners to fights to dog races, Zusak compellingly relates how the two brothers respond differently to internal and external conflicts. While Cameron lives in fear, Ruben grows increasingly hardened. The moment of truth comes when Cameron and Ruben are forced to meet each other in the ring. It's a somewhat overneat ending to an often provocative book. Ages 10-up.

  • Publisher's Weekly

    Starred review from July 15, 2002

    "In earthy working-class dialect, Australian novelist Zusak offers a lot of boxing action as well as a sensitive inspection of sibling relationship and family pride," wrote PW. Ages 13-up.

  • The Guardian Written with a spare, gritty authenticity, this is a compelling and refreshingly brief novel by the author of the bestselling The Book Thief.
  • The Bookseller Originally published in Zusak's native Australia three years before the hugely successful The Book Thief hit these shores, Fighting Ruben Wolfe is a lithe and affecting short novel about two brothers who become lured into the seedy underbelly of an illegal boxing ring in order to make some money to help out their parents. With echoes of the vulnerable and questioning first person narrative of The Outsiders, this is a fiery and ruminative novel for young teenagers.
  • bookbag.co.uk Gritty novella about tough lives in tough neighbourhoods at tough economic times. Short, sharp and punchy, it has moments of savage humour and pure pathos. There's poetry in every life - even when it's seeped in violence.
  • The Irish Times An impressive and heartwarming story of fraternal and familial bonding.
  • The Irish Times The novel is [...] a knockout
Title Information+
  • Publisher
    Penguin Random House Children's UK
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  • Copyright Protection (DRM) required by the Publisher may be applied to this title to limit or prohibit printing or copying. File sharing or redistribution is prohibited. Your rights to access this material expire at the end of the lending period. Please see Important Notice about Copyrighted Materials for terms applicable to this content.

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Fighting Ruben Wolfe
Markus Zusak
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