Wrestling With Honor [Paperback]

David Klass (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1990

Champion high school wrestler Ron Woods faces a soul-searching season when he refuses to retake a mandatory drug test he has failed. This decision affects every area of his life, including his feelings about his father, who died in Vietnam, and his first tentative romance.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After baseball ( A Different Season ) and soccer ( Breakaway Run ), Klass has turned to wrestling. Ron, the self-proclaimed "straightest guy" in his high school, feels his civil rights are being threatened when he has to take a drug test in order to compete on the wrestling team. But when the test unexpectedly indicates the presence of drugs, he refuses to take another one, and sits out the season. Ron becomes increasingly bitter and angry when others don't understand or sympathize with his moral stand. He blames the father he never knewand won't talk aboutwho was killed in Vietnam when he was an infant. The mystery of why he failed the drug test is cleared up (the astute reader will have solved it long before), and Ron is allowed to wrestle again, but too late to qualify for a championship bout with Igor, his nemesis. Igor wins the champion's trophy, but won't go home until he's wrestled Ron. Once again, Klass creates a moving, emotionally involving story; readers will be cheering all the way through its excitingif manipulatedfinal scene. However, this book doesn't resonate the way Klass's last two did, and some of the charactersparticularly the two bad guysand climactic scenes bear the hallmarks of formulaic screenwriting. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-12 Ron Woods, captain of and driving force behind his high-school wrestling team, is the straightest kid in school. That's why everyone is surprised when Ron unwillingly submits to a mandatory drug test and tests positively for marijuana use. When barred from the wrestling team, most of his friends and teammates resent him for ruining their chances at the county tournament, and an athletic scholarship is on the line. While despondent over the whole mess yet still standing his ground, Ron lets the anger toward his father, killed in Vietnam when Ron was a baby, come into sharp focus. Eventually, he comes to terms with his father's death. It doesn't take an expert to figure out early on the clincher revealed at the end of the book: someone had switched vial samples for the drug test. The possibility of this happening is never considered. When Ron is cleared, he is still barred from the tournament, yet he beats his rival in a post-tournament bout. This is entertaining and thought-provoking despite its flaws. Most of the novel is effective and believable. Except for Ron's rival, who is over-exaggerated, character are clearly drawn. Ron is especially notable, as he dashes from a sexual encounter when he realizes that he is not ready and learns how to solve tough problems in his own way rather than giving up. The wrestling scenes are detailed and realistic. This book is good, but a more powerful story about a teenage boy taking a stand, also involving sports and learning to accept an untimely death, is Chris Crutcher's Running Loose (Greenwillow, 1983). Diane P. Tuccillo, Mesa Public Library, Ariz.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Point (November 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590431870
• ISBN-13: 978-0590431873
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,140,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wrestling with Honor, December 27, 1999

By 

Daniel S. Weber (IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wrestling With Honor (Hardcover)

I must say that this book is a classic in my mind. I am 22 years old now and I read this book when I was in 8th grade. Since the day I read it in 8th grade I wrote five book reports on it, the last of which I handed in my senior year of high which by that time some of the details of the book had been schewed in my mind, nonetheless a fabulous read. This is coming from a kid who read one book from cover to cover before he was 18 years old, this book was it. Since that time I have read over a hundred books and still think that wrestling with honor is a must read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good Book., June 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wrestling with Honor: 2 (Hardcover)

I found it a very interesting book to read. It gives entertainment to the readers while they are reading. It is not an excellent book for wits and wisdom though. I think it would not be bad for anybody to read this book at least once.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "MUST" for everyone., May 2, 2002

By 

Raul Baz Suarez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wrestling With Honor (Paperback)

I read this book when I was in seventh grade.
Today, at law school, I still remember this as the first book that really interested me.
Wrestling With Honor is one of those books that can be read over and over again just to put a smile on your face; I truly consider this book as one of my greatest hits.