Meet the Wolfe Brothers. Their family struggles financially but the two brothers work through the tough times and help each other with their favorite hobby, ‘Boxing’. Their hard work and persistence pays off when they become boxing champions.

If you enjoy reading about people who step up and keep pushing when the odds are against them, then this is the book for you.

This is the story of Cameron and Ruben Wolfe, two brothers from a working class family. The two brothers have a friend that is being bullied at school and Ruben finally steps up and teaches the bully a lesson. Initially to make some money, the boys hook up with a fight promoter who sees something saleable and crowd-pleasing in the untrained brothers. It’s no fake WWE wrestling that the Wolfe brothers are drawn into. It’s real boxing, with real pain and real consequences. The brothers soon find that they are fighting for more than tips and pay off money. It soon becomes a fight for identity, dignity and for each other.

I really admired how Markus Zusak wrote this book. There were always twists and turn in the book so it kept my full attention. I could imagine the scenes in my head, and I felt like I was involved in the book myself. My mum had to keep reminding me to do my other subject homework rather than just read this book. The attitude of the two brothers was outstanding, I just couldn’t believe how positive the two Wolfe brothers were during such difficult times. I would recommend this book to teenagers who like adventure books because it is a journey for the brothers. It was a great read and I will definitely read more books by Markus Zusak.

Mak, Year 9

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 “Every dog has its day.”

Do you like exciting, action-packed books that make you forget about the world, and put you in a different place? Would you consider boxing if it meant happiness, financial wise, for your family? There are two boys in this book, Cameron and Ruben Wolfe, who are adventurous brothers who find it difficult to support their family without enough money. Their dad can’t find a job after getting hurt at work, their mum is the one who earns the income in the family. Their big sister is always getting hung over. Their big brother is successful and has a productive job, a girlfriend but now is living on his own.  They decide to make money by fighting in the boxing ring day in, day out. They decided one day that they would challenge each other, step in the boxing ring and fight. A person’s feelings mean more than anything to them than fame and fortune does.

Even though it takes a while to really get into the book and to enjoy it and be interested, it becomes worth it because of the generous amount of adventure that is given in the end. I would recommend this book to 10 to 15 year old boys that enjoy being inside and reading about adventure rather than dreaming about being in the book. “Fighting Ruben Wolfe” will relate to teenagers who have siblings that they fight with because they may not always get along, but still always love each other almost like best friend after, like Cameron and Ruben Wolfe. I would rate this book a 2 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.

 Mikayla, Year 9