 |
Nancy Keane's | Booktalks -- Quick and Simple | |
|
|||||||
 |
Sharenow,
Rob.
THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB New York : HarperTeen, 2011 IL YA ISBN 0061579688 |
|
|
Karl Stern is blonde, fair-skinned, and religiously non-observant, so he has never been defined by his Jewish heritage. But in 1930s Berlin, Germany, things are changing fast. Pro-Nazi bullies at Karl’s school identify him as a Jew. After he suffers a humiliating attack, he is desperate for a way to defend both himself and his young sister Hildy. When boxer Max Schmeling (who was a real person) offers boxing lessons in exchange for a painting from the art gallery owned by Karl’s father, the teenager gladly accepts. Karl is a natural at boxing, and he rises quickly through the local ranks. At a youth boxing tournament, a former classmate reveals that Karl is a Jew, and suddenly he is barred from competition. Even more troubling, his dad's art gallery is destroyed on Kristallnacht (the “night of broken glass”, when Jewish homes and businesses were vandalized by Nazis). Karl and Hildy become separated from their parents, and they begin to pin their hopes on Max Schmeling to get them safely to America. The best historical fiction brings real people from history into the story, and it makes you feel like you are right there with the characters. The Berlin Boxing Club does just that. It is a gripping read, with plenty of boxing scenes that will keep you turning those pages! (Amy Pickett, Ridley High School, Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Awards Program Booktalks 2012-2013) |
| SUBJECTS:
Berlin (Germany) -- History -- 1918-1945 -- Fiction.
Germany -- History -- 1933-1945 -- Fiction. Family life -- Germany -- Fiction. Boxing -- Fiction. Schmeling, Max, 1905-2005 -- Fiction. Nazis -- Fiction. Jews -- Germany -- History -- 1933-1945 -- Fiction. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Germany -- Fiction. Historical fiction. |
Except where
otherwise noted, content on this site is
