The Boxer [Hardcover]

Kathleen Karr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2000

Hard-hitting historical fiction

Ever since his father ran off two years before, fifteen-year-old Johnny Woods has struggled to help support his ma and five siblings, sacrificing his own schooling in the process. Still, there's been hardly enough money each month to make the rent, and Johnny's dream of a house in Brooklyn, away from the tenement slums, is out of reach.

Then Johnny discovers boxing. He is a natural-born fighter, with street smarts, determination, and an explosive uppercut. Although boxing is illegal in 1885 New York, Johnny powers his way through every obstacle, believing he has found the means to raise himself and his family out of poverty. But as he moves closer to his biggest fight yet, Johnny must reconcile his need to help his loved ones with a sharpening desire to achieve something outside the ring, starting with his education. In bringing to life Johnny's struggle and ultimate success, Kathleen Karr offers readers a compelling portrait of an appealing young champion.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the Lower East Side tenements of Manhattan in the late 1800s, there is employment for the city's huge immigrant population--except it's mostly sweatshop labor for little pay. Fifteen-year-old Johnny Woods is desperate to find enough work to support his fatherless family. When he notices a sign in a bar window asking for young men to try their fighting skills, he investigates, hoping to win the five dollar prize. He is unluckily arrested during his first fight, but ironically his luck turns when he meets former lightweight champion Michael O'Shaunnessey in jail. O'Shaunnessey recognizes Johnny's raw talent and begins training him as a serious boxer.

Once out of the clink, Johnny is winning fights, working regularly in the posh uptown New York Athletic Club, and saving money for a new home for his family in Brooklyn. But then Johnny's winning concentration is shot with the return of his alcoholic father. Does he have the stamina to continue as the family breadwinner, confront his father, and still win in the ring? A Rocky for the late 19th century, The Boxer is a good solid story with plenty of heart. Author Kathleen Karr (The Great Turkey Walk) gives Johnny an engaging first person voice: "The mind was a muscle, like any other.... But how you exercised it diagramming sentences ... hadn't dawned on me yet." His troubles with money and family will ring true with contemporary teens, while the historical setting will delight teachers, who will surely want to recommend this book as supplemental reading when teaching about the urban industrial age. (Ages 11 to 15) --Jennifer Hubert

From Publishers Weekly

Karr (The Great Turkey Walk) offers an enticing mix of sports action, family drama and period detail in this saga of an amateur boxer growing up in 19th-century Manhattan. Fifteen-year-old Johnny's skill with his fists is as impressive as his high morals and deep devotion to family. After his drunken father runs off, Johnny assumes the role of head of the household. Money being tight, the teen attempts to earn an extra $5 by entering an illegal fight. His subsequent arrest turns out to be fortuitous. In jail, Johnny meets fellow convict Michael O'Shaunnessey, an ex-middleweight champ, who acts as Johnny's personal trainer, manager and mentor. The strenuous workouts Johnny and his new coach begin in their shared cell set into motion a series of events that continues long after their release from prison. On top of Johnny's goal of becoming a champ, he yearns to finish high school and move his family out of their tenement. Most readers will be willing to suspend their disbelief of Johnny's record number of wins long enough to cheer him on during his struggle to fight fair both inside and outside of the ring. The book's one-two-punch pacing and warmhearted resolutions will keep the pages turning. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (October 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374309213
• ISBN-13: 978-0374309213
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,242,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Boxer, March 20, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Boxer (Hardcover)

"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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful work of historical fiction, November 24, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Boxer (Hardcover)

This is the story of a young man living in the slums of New York in the 1880's. John Aloysius Xavier Woods, or Johnny, has had a hard life. Having several siblings, a mother, and no father, Johnny has to work in a sweatshop all day for a disgustingly small amount of money. However, one day he decides to take a chance at illegal boxing, for the winner receives a good sum of money. Instead, he gets arrested during his first try and sent to jail for six months. It is there that he meets Michael O'Shaunnessey, a professional boxer. O'Shaunnessey sees lots of potential in Johnny, and Johnny agrees to let himself be trained. The rich O'Shaunnessey meanwhile sends money to Johnny's family to support them. After leaving jail, Johnny manages to use his newfound skills legally in a boxing club. Soon, Johnny manages to become the lightweight champion under the guidance of O'Shaunnessey. I think that this is a really good book, it is exciting and has a continuing plotline without boring lulls. It illustrates the image of life in the poorer sections of the America a century ago very well.

I think that this story was an excellent illustration of how the times shape the individual. Johnny was working for a miniscule amount of money in the sweatshops. However, because he wanted more for himself in life, he decided to attempt boxing. Johnny would receive 5 dollars a day for every 4 rounds of boxing he won, which was much more than he made usually. Later on, after he gets out of prison, Johnny makes the decision that he will not return to the sweatshops. He strives to become a better boxer, which will then earn him more money to finally buy a better life in Brooklyn. The times for Johnny, which are poor and desolate times, force him to find a means of improving him and his family's conditions. The environment that Johnny lives in shapes him into a different individual than he would've been if he had lived in different circumstances.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book will knock you out! (But not really), February 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Boxer (Hardcover)

That is of course, only if you like boxing. John Woods: a poor, tenament resident with a mother and young siblings to take care of, and a dead end job in the sweat shops that wasn't getting him anywhere, needed a miracle. And while walking down the street one day, he thinks he finds one: boxing. Boxing paid big money, and John knew he could do it, so he tries out in a place Brodie's Bar. During his first bout, the place is stormed by the cops (boxing was illegal without a permit) and John is sent to the "Tombs" (prison) for 6 months. Luckily, it was a hidden blessing, For John meets "The Perfessor" O'Shaunnessey. Ex-pro boxer, who now owned an athletic club. After getting out of the Tombs, his training begins at the club, and now his only goal is to get his family out of the tenaments, and into a decent home. If you're the person that enjoys boxing, I would say this book is definitely for you. If you do not like boxing like me, it will still be an enjoyable book (it was very well written), but it will not be as enjoyable...I give it 4 stars.