The Boxer

Rating:
Summary: The Boxer
Review: "The Boxer" was an okay book with not a whole lot of a knockout ending. Johnny Woods a lower class kid living in the tenements of Manhattan in the 1800's is supporting his family after his father leaves 3 years earlier. Johnny is walking home from the sweatshop one night, and stops at Brodie's Saloon where they offer boxing to anyone, and the winner wins five dollars. When Johnny is fighting, the saloon is raided by the police Johnny ends up with a sentence of 6 months in prison. When in prison he meets the "Professor" Michael O'Shaunessy. Michael offers to train him in prison and continue to train him when they get out of prison at his Upper East Side New York Athletic Club. When Johnny gets out he is surprised with the return of his father. He now must concentrate on fights and his family. This was an overall okay book. I expected a better ending then what was given.

Rating:
Summary: A Definite Contender
Review: Kathleen Karr's THE BOXER is a great story about a young man who makes his own way in the world and reaches for dreams that he would have never dared if life hadn't forced him to succeed. Fifteen-year old Johnny Woods dropped out of school and started working 12-hour days in a sweatshop ironing clothes to help his mother support his five younger siblings. His dad ran out on them a long time ago. But the money Johnny makes hardly puts a dent in the mounting bills the struggling family faces. Then, one night, he reads an ad on Brodie's Saloon about a boxing match. Whoever wins the boxing match receives a five-dollar prize purse. In 1885 New York City's Lower East Side, five dollars is a month's rent. Johnny signs up, gets his first bout and may be on his way to winning his first match, then gets arrested by the New York City Police. In 1885, prize-fighting was illegal, especially the way the sport was run in Brodie's Saloon. Sentenced to six months in jail, Johnny figures out he's got to change his life, and he finds the man to help him do it. Michael O'Shaunnessey, called Perfessor by those who know him, was a boxer and fight manager, and he begins training young Johnny. Using his wits, his muscle, and his courage, Johnny begins the transformation that will forever alter his life and the lives of those around him.

An author of a number of books, Kathleen Karr apparently loves to blend her fiction with history and real people. Other books she's written include SKULLDUGGERY (a story about a young boy helping a well-meaning grave robber practice his trade), THE GREAT TURKEY WALK (the tale of a boy herding turkeys to Denver, and the book was on the Best Book of the Year lists by SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL and PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY), and the Petticoat Party series (books about young girls going West on a wagon train. Her heroines and heroes are always well-done and draw readers into their problems and into the stories.

THE BOXER is an excellent tale and a fantastic read. The author brings images of late 19th century New York City's slum areas and lifestyles into view for young readers without hitting them over the head with history. She doesn't describe the events like they're history. She presents Johnny's world as it is and as he sees it. Of course, many readers will note the difference between then and now, but Karr leaves that up to the reader rather than drawing special importance to those facts. Karr's ear for dialogue, both internal in the first-person point of view and in the conversations between the characters, is true to life, but written so that the words on the page pass amazingly quick. She keeps up a rapid pace that encourages young readers to keep turning page. The focus she maintains on the family, and Johnny's growing vision of the family's plight and what he can do about it, is fantastic. Johnny is a great hero, but remains very human in the reader's view.

The only thing that needed a little more attention was the last fight. Karr builds the readers up to an all-or-nothing finish, yet the final showdown is somehow anti-climatic. However, the interweaving of the Perfessor's knowing remarks with scenes from the battle in progress are nicely done.

Anyone interested in getting a glimpse of the past through the eyes of a hero with a great heart will enjoy this book. Readers that like fiction that is fast-paced and filled with dialogue will blaze through this story. In addition to an enjoyable read, readers will make a new friend and gain a mentor in Johnny Woods, inside and outside the boxing ring. THE BOXER is a fun read, and the book is emotionally uplifting.

Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: Usually i do not like reading books. Being in 10th grade i guess that applies to everyone. Well, i found this book, and i read it in one day. It was that good. Mrs. Karr is able to keep the story very interesting with many turningpoints. Johnny ends up going from a sweatshop worker eating cabbage every day, to being a lightwieght boxing champion, and having steak and other great foods almost everyday. If you are like me, where you usually do not like reading books, this book would be great for you.