Fighting Ruben Wolfe

The Wolfe family is struggling. Cameron’s father is unemployed, his mother is working overtime to keep the family afloat, his sister is recovering from a broken heart by partying all night and his eldest brother Steve has decided to get a place of his own. Meanwhile Cameron and his brother Ruben join a local boxing league and are duking it out to make some extra money.

There’s so much more to this story than boxing or teenage angst. At its core it’s a poignant story of the bond between brothers. There are crushes on girls and dog racing in between those moments, but the most important story is that of Ruben Wolfe; a boy who can’t seem to find happiness despite winning his fights. His brother Cameron is the one who tells us the show more story and he is the antithesis to Ruben. When Ruben wins, Cam loses, when he gets a girl Cam inevitable loses one, yet the two provide a balance in each other’s lives. They both have an immense love and respect for the other and when one is in pain, the other can’t help but feel it.

“It’s funny, don’t you think, how time seems to do a lot of things? It flies, it tells, and worst of all, it runs out.” show less

Here's the thing: this book is not really about boxing, but there's this huge boxing glove on the HPL copy. So the second book in the series (Getting the Girl) gets checked out all the time, but Fighting Ruben Wolfe doesn't. I have to convince people to try it, because let's face it, most teens aren't the worlds hugest boxing fans.

Anyway, this book rocks. It's about two brothers in Australia. One kind of sucks at most stuff, but his brother is good at things like boxing. Cameron (the younger bro) is always trying to live up to his older brother Ruben's reputation and coolness factor. Zuzak can write. Seriously, I was reluctant to read a lame (sorry boxing fans) book that even mentioned boxing, but Zuzak totally sucked me in. He also show more wrote the amazing Book Thief, which is completely different and every bit as good.
--shannon show less

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I am the Messenger or The Book Thief, but I think that's because I just don't connect with the subject matter, not through any fault of the book itself. Neither brotherly solidarity or boxing are really topics that I relate to. Even so, this book reads more almost more like poetry than a novel - not in any pretentious way, but in the way that real life is never sum-up-able in straight-forward bricks of prose. Zusak's writing, the details he chooses to call out and his way of describing the most visceral sensations come the closest to the actual experience of life of any writer I've ever found.

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 show more 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. show less

I have always had a problem with people who fight for money. The "sport" of boxing is incomprehensible to me. Mr. Zusak explains so much more than the sport. I think a lot of searching is done into the hearts of his characters. I'm already reading the next one.

I have always had a problem with people who fight for money. The "sport" of boxing is incomprehensible to me. Mr. Zusak explains so much more than the sport. I think a lot of searching is done into the hearts of his characters. I'm already reading the next one.

Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are brothers and come from a working-class family that is barely getting by. After Ruben gets into a fight at school, they are approached by a fight promoter who asks them if they'd be interested in fighting in an illegal underground boxing competition. When they accept his offer, they end up getting so much more out of it than the extra cash that initially interested them; they discover what it means to be brothers and fighters. [[Markus Zusak]] is a writer who really impresses me. He manages to make you really care about the characters he writes about even when on the surface they don't seem to be the most likable people in the world. You aren't just reading about a family, you are part of the family so you show more care about them even with their imperfections. show less