Chris Lynch's Shadow Boxer

the beginning of this novel Jennings Burch is taken to an orphanage with no idea why he is being put there. In the orphanage, he was not aware of the rules, so he was starved the first few days for not following the commands made by a clicker. Jennings eventually made a friend named Mark, who teaches him the rules and keeps him company. Jennings is adopted and brought back in the span of a week. His mom eventually came to pick him up, but his stay at home did not last long because his mom broke her back and he was sent to the orphanage. Jennings is in and out of numerous homes, getting abused and embarrassed along the way, but meets many loving people. In one home, he reunites with Mark, but a few weeks later Mark passes away from a disease and Jennings runs away. A police officer takes him in and his old bus driver Sal, who becomes a father-figure, takes him in and he lives the rest of his childhood with Sal and his mom. Jennings’ survival in this story is due to his immense psychological strength.

In addition, this book succeeds in terms of depicting real life situations to young children. As presented in the story, Reed’s father lost his job; thus, causing him to move back in with

When the boy's parents had finally come to watch their sons do what they had been passionate about for the whole summer of 1972, Petey feels this immense amount of joy because of how he thinks the parents might know him a bit more. Petey feels as if his parents ignore him and do not pay attention to his daily personal desires because they themselves are too busy focusing on their jobs and their personal desires.

But when Julián ends up at the local gym with the intention to learn how to fight, Carlomonte, a former boxing champion and now a retired athlete and alcoholic, will gradually teach him that with discipline, correct guidance and kindness, the bottled-up anger will soon dissipate, allowing his heart to trust once more.

So he decides to teach him the basics of walking and other physical activities everyone else thought were impossible. The theme of the story is why do some people frequently hurt the ones

The relationship between the two fathers and the two sons is a very important theme in this book. Because of their different backgrounds, Reb Saunders and David Malters approached raising a child from two totally different perspectives.

home that help both him and the parent”. Boys here change drastically into young respectful young men (article). The book "Hatchet”, written by Gary Paulsen, in the other hand, is about

In the novel, the main character is mistreated by all the people that are genetically related to him. Child abuse is a serious issue whether the perpetrators are adults or children. Nevertheless, the main character deals with it in healthy and constructive ways instead of reacting violently and gives an example to children dealing with the same issues. Abuse is a challenge that Matt deals with all

What the author had to know before writing the book about the MMA Fighter Chris Leben aka The Crippler he had to talk to Chris Leben about what happened before he became a fighter, Chris Leben wanted to make a book about himself explaining about his life, But Chris didn't have a good life before he became a fighter, He would go out and drink and did drugs but he would quit because of his fighting career.

Through this story, the author shows how difficult life can be, not everyone has the possibility to live a quiet adolescence, sometimes you have just to grow up faster, be responsible and make difficult decisions from which depends the rest of your life.

Tobias Wolff’s memoir, “This Boy’s Life”, explores the idea that an individual’s actions can be altered due to the people they are exposed to. The protagonist Jack Wolff lives an impressionable life where he undergoes somewhat of a dilemma in relations to his actions, being incapable of changing for the greater good of himself. The absence of a proper male role model plays a large role on Jack’s actions, though is definitely not the only reason. Jack’s actions are influenced by Rosemary’s abusive and power craving ex-husband Roy, as well as Dwight’s violent and arrogant personality. However, Jack is also responsible for his

As a child Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother; a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food it was scraps from the dogs' bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors. Dave dreamed of finding a family to love him and call him their son. It took years of struggle, deprivation and despair to find his dreams and make something of himself. A Child Called 'It' covers the early years of

The father’s character begins to develop with the boy’s memory of an outing to a nightclub to see the jazz legend, Thelonius Monk. This is the first sign of the father’s

“I hate that Danny Saunders for this.” (49).The change is tremendous, they go from enemies to best friend in a few days. Yet from a reader’s point of view, since so well written, this fails to come across as implausible. Forgiveness seems imperative. Both boys lack true companionship, especially Danny.

This report is on a project undertaken to help an older gentleman named Mortimer who is seventy-seven years old. This project is intended to get Mortimer to develop a different behavior than what he has been displaying in recent times. He recalls his life story in the following way. As a young man, Mortimer enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp. He was stationed in Australia and met his beautiful bride, Rosie. They have six great children, now in their forties and fifties. Mortimer worked for an advertising agency after he got out of the service. He was in very good physical shape. Tennis and track were his two sports of choice. As a matter of fact, Mortimer was a runner in the 1956 Olympics.