I wouldn't normally like this kind of book (disfunctional family, fighting...), but I love Zusak, and he makes you love characters you wouldn't like in real life.... ( )

Fighting Ruben Wolfe puts the world in perspective through the eyes of two teenage boys, and was a very interesting read for me. I know adults who would be horrified by the thoughts that Zusak suggests spin around in a teenager’s brain, but his style of writing from the perspective of Cameron sets this book apart from other books I have read that attempted to write from a young mind.

This book is, undoubtedly, an underdog story through and through. Even the phrase ‘underdog’ seems to have a special place, as references are made to dogs and wolves in many chapters. The story’s moral is original and thought-provoking, not the kind of thing you would find in an everyday, clichéd book, which is a refreshing change. It seems to be about the nature of fighting, losing and winning, and what makes something worth fighting for. Zusak has locked onto a very good point, and conveyed it expertly.

One of the things that makes this book so readable is the heart-stirring balance of dark and light, of love and violence, of humour and anger. A reader could see this book from two completely different perspectives, but the best experience comes from taking the two sides together. Through all the hardships the brothers come through, their relationship with each-other builds, and situations like frequent walks with their neighbour’s dog, Miffy, provide opportunities for looks back at a situation, and a thought-provoking comment or two. This is definitely a book that somebody can go away and think about for months on end, analysing it in their mind; simple, but complicated and deep at the same time. I have heard that this book has been pitched at nine to twelve-year-olds, but there is quite a bit that a nine or twelve-year old would not extract from a book like this, where someone a little older would.

A short book, but a very good one, Fighting Ruben Wolfe is a must-read for people who like to think, especially Australians, as it will strike a chord of patriotism in more places than one. Zusak has written this book in such a way that a reader can hear the characters talking in his or her head, and it is very refreshing to be able to put an Australian accent to those voices, rather than an American one. Recommended for people aged eleven and above, particularly those who like to mill over stories in their head after reading.

This is the second book about the Wolfe brothers ( after Underdog) which deals with Ruben and Cameron battling on with their lives. The two brothers have one set of boxing gloves so they play a game in their backyard where they box each other with one glove each. After Ruben fells someone in a fight, he is offered a job boxing at a seedy underground competition each Sunday. Cameron is also offered a job, and together they see it as a way to earn money and help their families. But the world they have suddenly entered is brutal and dangerous and one of them could get seriously hurt or worse. This book has a lot of swearing and violence and shows the dark side of life - robbery, drunkeness, domestic violence, alcholism and the terrible indifference that comes with facing this type of problem every single day of your life.
Some of the book is quite funny - like the start where Rube convinces a cop to put a bet on for him at the greyhound track despite them being underage.

So I finally got around to reading one of Markus Zusak’s early books. This one is a straight up realistic fiction book, without the turns and contrivances of The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger, but it’s less exiting for it.

Cameron Wolfe and his brother Ruben are struggling with the rest of their family to make ends meet, and survive the ordeal mentally. But, after Ruben gets in a fight defending his sister’s honor, he is recruited to be part of an underground fighting ring. Cameron comes with him, and they soon find a purpose for their day to day lives.

Not exactly the best book I’ve read, and certainly not Zusak’s best, but well written, and a decent story, and set in Australia - which is never bad. ( )

Adult Fiction.
The Wolfe family has fallen on hard times. Dad has had an accident at work and has been unemployed for nearly five years. Mum cleans longer and harder, and works a night shift at a hospital. Sarah gets drunk now and again. Older brother Steve wants to leave home. Ruben and his younger brother Cameron are unemployed. They are wolves in a cage, waiting to be let out. ( )