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16 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
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4.3 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Boxing Redemption, July 4, 2007

By

A. Luciano (Lowell, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Brave (Paperback)

Sonny Bear, half Native American teen, feels like things are going really badly in his life. His mother left him with her uncle on a reservation while she went off to see her fortune in some city. He'd like to join the Army, but he is a little too young. He is a talented boxer, competing in small-town fights, but things aren't right there, either. It seems he always ends up getting treated unfairly by the hometown referees.

Finally Sonny is fed up. He decides to track down his mother in New York and get her to sign the release papers so he can join the Army and get away from his dead-end life. Things don't go as smoothly as he planned, though.

Just moments off the bus in New York, Sonny meets Stick and Doll, a couple of con artists involved in drug dealing. Even though Sonny knows they are probably no good, he can't help being attracted to Doll and wanting to help her. When he gets caught transporting drugs for Stick, he even refuses to cooperate with the police, for fear that not only Stick, but Doll as well will end up arrested.

The police officer chasing Stick has a soft spot for Sonny, though, because he used to be a boxer himself and would like to see Sonny succeed instead of falling through the cracks of the system. He intercedes on Sonny's behalf and guides him through boxing training instead of sending him to jail. But Doll still remains on Sonny's mind. Will he be able to resist going back to her and Stick?

I felt like I understood the appeal of boxing much more after reading this book. It didn't seem quite as senseless to me as it had before. I liked the character of Jake and his incorporation of Native American training into Sonny's boxing training.

I couldn't believe, though, that Sonny would be so stupid as to be blinded by Stick and Doll, who were obviously taking advantage of him. I also didn't believe that Sonny would be allowed out of custody in order to train to be a boxer.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes place right where the Contender left off., October 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Brave (Paperback)

Having read the Contender in reading class, I still had many questions at the end. Once I found the sequel,The Brave, I couldn't put it down. I would stay up late reading until I couldn't read any more. This book got me reading a lot more. Now I can't wait to read The Chief. I recommend this book to everyone. This would be a great book to read in class. It is The Contender, only better. If you read The Contender you must read this book. If you like The Contender and The Brave read The Outsiders and Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton. I guarantee you will like them too.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Sequel to The Contender, February 22, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Brave (Paperback)

Sonny Bear is a 17-year-old boxer who boxes in "smoke houses". A smoke house is a house where people bet on boxers that are "professional." His uncle, Jake, is a moscondaha Indian just like Sonny. As Sonny boxes, a farmer boy with blond hair is the first one to beat him. He the hitch-hikes to the The Deuce in New York to see his mother. When he gets there, he is met by an escaped convict from prison named stick and a 17-year-old hottie named Doll. While they are walking up and down The Deuce, an octet of cops attack Sonny and Stick then grabs his wallet and runs off with it. While Sonny is in jail, he is confronted by Sergeant Brooks, a former Harlem boxer that decided to be a cop. While Brooks is asking him questions, he finds out that Sonnt is a boxer and decides to train him to be #1 champion he possibly could be. Brooks tells him about Donatelli's Gym and the story about when he was boxing. Next, he starts training to win the Golden Gloves Award. AS he proceeds in the tournament, he is next to face Brooks' arch rival's son

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Boxing Brave
An amazing journey of a teen boy (Sonny Bear) struggling to be somebody. Torn between his friends; Doll and Stick, his parents, and his sport, it's up to him to decide what's... Read more

Published on May 25, 2007 by Mid-Prairie Teen

5.0 out of 5 stars the Brave by robert lipsyte
The brave was a great book. it was never boring and always kept you wondering what was gonna happen next.it is about a 17 year old native american boy named sonny. Read more

Published on November 9, 2006

4.0 out of 5 stars The Brave
This book is about a young boy name Sonny that box. He has a problem though. His problem is that when he gets angry, he becomes a monster inside. Read more

Published on July 21, 2005 by Ellen Ann Suchy

3.0 out of 5 stars Oridnary Tale
Robert Lipsyte delivers an ordinary tale of a Native American boxer who travels to the big city in order to pursue a more extravagant life than that which he leads in the... Read more

Published on September 7, 2004 by C. Walsh

5.0 out of 5 stars the best book
This book is superb this is better than any other book I have ever read. It is about a kid named sonny that loves to box he want to find his mother in the big city, once he is... Read more

Published on May 13, 2004 by max londono

4.0 out of 5 stars The Brave = Good Book!
The book that I chose to read was titled The Brave by Robert Lipsyte. This book

was really good and I enjoyed it. Read more

Published on March 8, 2004 by Kingsley Samuelson

4.0 out of 5 stars The Brave = Good Book!
The book that I chose to read was titled The Brave by Robert Lipsyte. This book

was really good and I enjoyed it. Read more

Published on March 7, 2004 by Kingsley Samuelson

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of The Brave !
This book The Brave is awesome coming from having a boxing background myself,it's one of a kind .
I usually read this book in class whenever I get a chance, but I really... Read more

Published on October 14, 2003 by Regg Woolridge

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book You Will Remeber for a lifetime November 09,2001
This book is awesome! I am the kind of person who hates to read. I usually stop reading books whenever I can, but I couldn't put this book down. Read more

Published on November 9, 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars good
this was a good book but not as good as it's precessor, the contender. This book is about an indian boy who is a boxer and goes to NYC and gets caught up in drugs and a beautiful... Read more

Published on May 25, 2001

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
SONNY BEAR SWAGGERED down the aisle, banging his big red gloves together, whipping his black ponytail from side to side against his bare shoulders, feeling the hatred of the crowd slap his body like a fine cold spray. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
neutral corner

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sonny Bear, Running Brave, New York, Donatelli's Gym, Gotham Gloves, Tomahawk Kid, Forty-second Street, Moscondaga Nation, New Jersey, Chief Sonny, Glen Hoffer, Grateful Dead, Martin Witherspoon, Native American, Navy Crockett, Sweet Bear's Kiva

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