Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Markus Zusak; Arthur A. Levine Books

“Partly because of their family’s poor finances and partly to prove themselves, brothers Ruben and Cameron take jobs as fighters and find themselves reacting very differently in the boxing ring.”
Robin’s Note: Markus Zusak got a lot of attention recently for his later book, The Book Thief, but this title was his first and is very different though equally good.  It covers everything from boxing to peer pressure to being brothers, and Zusak has a great ear for how conversations actually sound.  The energy of the book is infectious, even as the consequences of getting into illegal boxing start piling up.