Parker, R. (2008). The Boxer and the Spy. New York, NY: Philomel Books.
Brief Annotation: After the apparent suicide of a fellow student, Terry, a novice boxer questions his death. With the help of his best friend Abby, they begin to uncover the truth about his death. They begin to uncover even more secrets in their community. Terry learns life lessons from his boxing coach and uses his training to better himself throughout the story.
Genre: Juvenile novel /theme
Grade Level: 9-12
Readers who will like this: Readers who enjoy boxing and stories with a strong boxing theme, also readers who enjoy mysteries would like this book.
Response/Rating (1-4):2. The author clearly knew a great deal about boxing and gave a lot of detail about it. However, the story and the tone and conversations of their characters did not seem authentic. I did not feel that the writer wrote well to a juvenile audience. I was also disappointed that he introduced the book with 15 years old smoking. Finally, he wrote with such terrible grammar on certain characters that it was practically incomprehensible at times but at other times, the character said things like “That’s correct.” It was contradictory and distracting. This was the second juvenile book that Parker has written after over 50 books for adults which was apparent in his writings.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: What would you do if someone told you something that you didn’t believe?
I haven't read any Robert Parker, but I probably won't read his YA fiction!
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