Fighting Ruben Wolfe

The Wolfe family has fallen on hard times. Cameron’s father is recovering from injuries received from a burst pipe, and meanwhile, is unemployed. His mother works full time to help make up for the loss. His sister Sarah is working overtime, and his brother Steve has postponed moving out so the family can get his rent. For Cam and Rube, the situation seems hopeless. The brothers spend their time at the greyhound track, misplacing bets and losing money. At school, they are taunted; it is there that Rube snaps. When the two are contacted by an underground boxing manager, they see it as an opportunity to pocket some money. And so Rube becomes the unbeatable Fighting Ruben Wolfe; Cameron becomes The Underdog. But although they began fighting for the money, it seems that the reason they continue is entirely different. The question is, what are they fighting for?

The sequel of The Underdog and Markus Zusak’s second novel, this book grounds out the reality of the situation tremendously well. The passionate motivations of both Rube and Cam make them very real and identifiable, and their conflict as Cam observes Rube’s reactions to his success drives the impact of the story home. On top of this, the constant implied conflict between the brothers as they continue to separate from their mirror image causes each character to maintain a certain depth that didn’t exist in The Underdog. Now the differences are even more apparent: Rube is the winner; Cam is the loser. They don’t follow each other around anymore, even though they try. This is what makes the main action of the story appear to be very real: the parallels and blatant contrasts between the two scenarios.

Like The Underdog, each action the characters take has a meaning that relates in some way to the overarching theme. However, instead of painting the reality on, this tendency serves to heighten it, making the novel that much more believable. On top of this, Cam no longer keeps track of his dreams, rather choosing to make more of a note his nightly conversations with his brother Rube. These dialogues don’t hold the cheesiness that the dreams did, and each one serves to ground out each brother’s sense of self.

However, if there was one thing I didn’t like, it was the cheesiness of some of Rube’s dialogue. I got the feeling that while his character was strong, he was still a bit awkward, despite the fact that he appeared to be absolute. Some of the same occurs in his actions, and I think this might be aided by the broken narrative style, which is a little more noticeable than in the previous book. In certain parts, it even seemed as if the chapter or scene had ended, when in fact it had not.

I think that the impact of this book is what makes it worth reading. The conflict between Cam and Rube appears very real as each one appears to separate from his mirror image. The story was easy to get into and had enough action to keep me reading until the end. On top of that, the overall narrative style is comfortable and easily read, and the characters deep and identifiable.

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Fighting Ruben Wolfe was Markus Zusak's second novel, and the second book in the Wolfe trilogy. It was first published in 2000 by Omnibus Books, an imprint of Scholastic Australia. The version I read was hardcover, published in 2001 by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic. Note: In the United States, Fighting Ruben Wolfe is considered to be Markus Zusak's debut novel, instead of The Underdog, which never sold in the United States.

Young adult fiction (though some places have it marked as Children’s fiction), 219 pages, first person point of view

Topics: Family, identity

Publisher’s age recommendation: Unavailable (though the reviews I’ve seen have placed it anywhere between 9-13)

Warnings: Some brief innuendo, and a non-detailed, non-involved kiss. Prevalent violence (boxing). Descriptions of depression. Talk of immoral acts, and possible innuendo that they are taking place, though this is denied. Talk of drugs and alcohol and description of substance abuse. Talk of thievery, which is carried out, though it is not condoned and the stolen object is replaced. Minor swearing and prevalent coarse language.

My opinion: = I loved the impact of it.