Strength and resilience fuel an urban teenâs fight for survival in this acclaimed novel from Bil Wright that âdelivers a knock-out punchâ (Venus Magazine).
Fourteen-year-old Louis Bowman lives in a boxing ringâa housing project circa 1968âand is fighting âjust to get to the end of the round.â Sharing the ring is his mother, Jeanette Stamps, a ferociously stubborn woman battling for her own dreams to be realized; his stepfather, Ben Stamps, the would-be savior, who becomes the sparring partner to them both; and the enigmatic Ray Anthony Robinson, the neighborhood âhoodlumâ in purple polyester pants, who sets young Louisâs heart spinning with the first stirrings of sexual longing.
Bil Wright deftly evokes an unrelenting world with quirky humor and a clear-eyed perspective in this âdeeply felt coming-of-age novelâ that âreads like the best of memoirsâ (School Library Journal).