The Brave - Softcover

Lipsyte, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0064470792 ISBN 13: 9780064470797

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2003

Synopsis

Sonny's been an outsider all his life.

He has never fit into either world: the Moscondagas on the Reservation see him as white; whites see him as Indian. So far, Sonny's managed to harness his anger -- what he calls "the monster" -- in the boxing ring. But Sonny wants out of the Res. He's headed for New York City, where nobody can tell him what to do.

Sonny doesn't count on stepping into the middle of a drug war when he gets there -- or on tangling with a tough Harlem boxer-turned-cop named Alfred Brooks. Brooks seems to think that Sonny's got the talent to make it to the top -- to be a contender. But first Sonny's got to learn to be smart, take control of his life, and beat the monster. Only it isn't as easy as it sounds....

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Lipsyte was an award-winning sportswriter for the New York Times and the Emmy-winning host of the nightly public affairs show The Eleventh Hour. He is the author of twelve acclaimed novels for young adults and is the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring his lifetime contribution in that genre. He lives in Manhattan and on Shelter Island, New York, with his wife, Lois, and his dog, Milo.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Alfred Brooks, hero of The Contender (1967), reappears as a police sergeant who rescues a young Native American boxer from drug pushers. Sonny Bear, 17, steps off the bus in N.Y.C., accepts a job with a hustler (``Stick''), and is immediately busted for possession. Sonny has talent, but he's hot-tempered and undisciplined; he's nearly killed in the correctional facility before Brooks springs him and sends him to Donatelli's Gym, the place in Harlem where world champions, and Brooks himself, once trained. Characters here may sneer at Rocky and The Karate Kid, but the story has elements of both. Sonny's training begins on the reservation, where it's supplied by old Jake Stump, member of a secret society (the ``Running Braves''); after a brief course of instruction at Donatelli's, the youth enters a citywide amateur competition and rips his way to the finals. His triumph is followed by a double blow: Brooks is shot and paralyzed (in a dramatic climax, Sonny tracks down the suspect--Stick); and Sonny is stripped of his amateur status when it comes out that he was paid for some previous bouts. A gritty tale of a young man who learns to replace his anger with pride. Well-written boxing action, too. (Fiction. 12-15) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0064470792
• ISBN 13: 9780064470797
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208