November 18

‘Fighting Reuben Wolfe’ by Markus Zusak

 fighting ruben wolfe      BAM! WACK! And his opponent is down. Ruben Wolfe wins again. Fighting Ruben Wolfe, written by Markus Zusak.

      Ruben Wolfe is a young boy in a kind of poverty-stricken family, but he has an awesome brother, Cameron Wolfe. This story is about the two brothers, who try a lot to help their family through their financial struggle. Their dad can’t get a job after a work injury, their mum is the only person who gains income. Their big sister is ‘common’ and is always hung over. Their big brother is actually successful; he has a well-paid job, a girlfriend and is now living on his own. The two brothers can see that they really need to do something to help out their family with their financial problems. The brothers begin to do boxing. Ruben Wolfe is well known at his school as a hard fighter, as for Cameron, not so much. In the ring Ruben can get up to $50 per fight, but Cameron can only get the change that is thrown at him when he loses. Ruben is now getting the girls, the money and the power of their family. This power is changing him. He is becoming grubby and disrespectful. Will Cameron be able to persuade Ruben that he is being bad, or will he continue his dangerous road to the Bad Lands? This book is more of a dramatic type of a book.

       This book would probably be recommended for boys from the ages of 14-17 years old. I would rate this book a 3 out of 5 stars. This is because I wouldn’t usually read this type of books and would rather not read these types of books. By Liam, Year 9.

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If your family was struggling for money and you knew you could make a difference, would you? Would you consider taking up boxing to earn the money?

       This story is based on two young boys who get recruited to a boxing club. The boys get told that they get money for wining. They think it over and realize that they could earn the money for their parents. Even though the boys’ family is poor and they are willing to make any money they can, their parent refuse to give them money to help out. Even when they know they’re not allowed to, they still try to help out the family without them knowing that they’re fighting for money.

       The main characters in this novel are Cameron and Ruben. Cameron and Ruben are these two kids who are raised in a poor family. Ruben is the older brother of Cameron and is Cameron’s role model. Ruben is the popular kid at school and Cameron is his nerdy brother. When they both get signed up for the fight club it really changes them both in their heart and spirit.

        I like this book so much because it’s a book I haven’t read before. For example, I have always read books that have been given to me by my teacher. For this book our group chose it and it was different because it was a book we all liked and were willing to read. I would recommend this book to people who like an action-filled thrilling books.

Taylor, Year 9

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This very humorous novel by Markus Zusak is based on a family that is quite poor and desperate for money but it’s mainly about the two brothers of the family, Cameron and Ruben. Ruben is the older of the two being the big, strong, buff, popular kid in high school, whereas Cameron is the younger nerdy brother that isn’t very well liked. Since the father of the family won’t accept the dole, the two brothers of the family decide to do something about it. At first they babysit dogs until an illegal boxing manager who holds illegal boxing fights comes to talk to the older brother Ruben after a fight with someone who called his sister this and that. The manager signs both of the boys up and the fighting begins.

 

Some issues include fighting above their weight against people that are the favourites in their local fighting joint. Other issues show that in most of the fights the brothers are in, they are the underdogs of the whole boxing match. Reading about their fights from the different perspectives of the brothers makes an absolutely fantastic read.

 

This book is great for teenage males as it is very humorous and has an Aussie slang swing to it. Also it is very fast moving and about hitting other people, which the teenage audience loves. This book is similar to a typical Hollywood boxing blockbuster such as Rocky. The boys fight for money to help their whole family out; they put their bodies on the line and get really busted up in some of their fights, which are electrifying to read. I would rate this book a definite 9 out of 10.

 

By Lochie, Year  9

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Fighting Ruben Wolfe is a compelling book about brotherhood, family values and sticking together.

 

In this inspiring book by Marcus Zusak two brothers take up boxing to help their family out with monetary issues but the fight in boxing becomes much more. It goes from a fight for a win to a fight for life, a fight to feel like a winner and a fight to believe that it’s all worth it. Would you let a seedy guy talking about boxing into your house when no one’s home? Would you accept a dodgy deal to box in an unsupervised environment? Well that’s exactly what Ruben and Cameron Wolfe do.

 

The two brothers take up a deal to box to help out their family, proving they will do everything and anything to help their family but when they realize what it all means, their fight in the ring suddenly means nothing. They realize that their fight is insignificant in comparison to their fight to be someone and help make their brotherhood grow into something amazing.

 

Fighting Ruben Wolfe is about family, brotherhood, loyalty and, obviously, fighting. Fighting Ruben Wolfe would suit teenage males as it has a lot of fighting but also has relevant themes in teenage boys’ lives. I would rate this book 4 out of 5.

 

Ryan, Year 9

 

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Posted November 18, 2013 by marjk in category Realistic fiction, Student Reviews

About the Author

Teacher-librarian at Aquinas College, Southport, Gold Coast, Australia

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