In 1930s Berlin, a Jewish boy forms an unlikely bond with a boxing champion in the second novel from the author of "My Mother the Cheerleader."
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Feb 17, 2012
Alex
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The Berlin Boxing Club is an historical fiction novel about a young secular Jewish teen coming of age in Nazi Germany between 1934 and 1939. Karl Stern has never considered himself a Jew and his Aryan looks have always helped him get away with that. But not anymore.
After receiving a vicious beating by some former friends turned Hitler Youth bullies, Karl has the good fortune to meet boxing champion Max Schmeling, who knows immediately that he had been beaten up. He offers to give More...
After receiving a vicious beating by some former friends turned Hitler Youth bullies, Karl has the good fortune to meet boxing champion Max Schmeling, who knows immediately that he had been beaten up. He offers to give More...
Feb 15, 2012
Grace
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The story starts off about a Jewish boy named Karl living in Germany during the beginning of the Nazi regime. Even though he doesn't look Jewish, a group of bullies who call themselves the Wolf Pack corner him after school and pull down his pants to reveal that he's a Jew. After that, life is never the same for Karl. He meets the famous boxer, Max Schmeling, who is friends with his father, an artist. In return for a painting of himself, Max offers to teach Karl how to box. Of course, Karl agrees
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Jan 05, 2012
Nicole
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The sounds of men hitting speed bags and jumping rope mingled with the gutteral grunts of exertion and blended in a strange primitive symphony. The place also had a distinctive animal smell that was warm and damp like a butcher shop on a summer day (p 101).
Fourteen-year-old Karl Stern is a tall, lanky youth when his boxing lessons with champion Max Schmeling begin at the Berlin Boxing Club. Hitler’s Nazi party is just coming to power in Germany and Karl is being bullied at school for More...
Nov 29, 2011
Suzanne
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This historical fiction is set in the 1930s Berlin of Max Schmeling, heavyweight boxing champion and parton of Karl Sterns' father's art gallery, once hip, now struggling in Hitler-led Germany. As if the artistic constraits of the Third Reich aren't enough, the restrictions on Jewish businesses continue to mount just as Karl's bullying at the hands of the Hitler Youth types at his school escalates.
When Max notices Karl at an opening, he remarks on the extent of the boy's reach and o More...
When Max notices Karl at an opening, he remarks on the extent of the boy's reach and o More...
Nov 28, 2011
Richie
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Richie's Picks: THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB by Robert Sharenow, HarperTeen, April 2011, 416p., ISBN: 978-0-06-157968-8
"All of Germany got swept up in Max Mania. He flew home in grand style on the Hindenburg, the largest airship in the world and the pride of the Nazi fleet. Thousands turned up to greet him when he landed in Frankfurt, and the event was covered on live radio. Every newspaper and magazine featured photographs of Max and stories about the fight. Almost instantly Ma More...
"All of Germany got swept up in Max Mania. He flew home in grand style on the Hindenburg, the largest airship in the world and the pride of the Nazi fleet. Thousands turned up to greet him when he landed in Frankfurt, and the event was covered on live radio. Every newspaper and magazine featured photographs of Max and stories about the fight. Almost instantly Ma More...
Nov 22, 2011
Patricia
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Read for Mock Printz
In my normal reading life, I've been avoiding books about the Holocaust. I know that this period in world history provides a lot of drama and pathos and many themes to explore, but I'm tired of reading about it. So I avoid. But my Mock Printz booklist is apparently not aware of my "No Nazis" rule and so I read this book set in 1930's Berlin. I remarked earlier that my list of ten Mock Printz books are all either tense or depressing. This falls into the depressi More...
In my normal reading life, I've been avoiding books about the Holocaust. I know that this period in world history provides a lot of drama and pathos and many themes to explore, but I'm tired of reading about it. So I avoid. But my Mock Printz booklist is apparently not aware of my "No Nazis" rule and so I read this book set in 1930's Berlin. I remarked earlier that my list of ten Mock Printz books are all either tense or depressing. This falls into the depressi More...
Nov 05, 2011
Beaverton City Library Teens
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Karl is growing up Jewish in Nazi Germany. When his father trades famous real-life boxing champion Max Schmeling a painting for lessons, the sport quickly supplants cartooning as his primary interest. While he focuses on training to be the new German youth boxing champion, the Nazis gain more power, and Karl's safety zone grows smaller until tragedies strike his family.
I've never been a big historical fiction reader, but I enjoyed this story of coming of age in Nazi Germany due to its focu More...
I've never been a big historical fiction reader, but I enjoyed this story of coming of age in Nazi Germany due to its focu More...
Oct 07, 2011
Briony
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I think this book has a quiet subtleness to it that many Holocaust/Literature forgoes. I enjoyed that Sharenow began his book before Nazi Germany went full-fledged to its growing escalation with Kristallnacht. The reader is able to see how Nazi Germany slowly turned up the heat on it Jewish population through Karl's own experiences. It was brilliant how Sharenow introduced certain characters and took them away as the plot escalated. An aspect that is very relevant to Jews' owns experiences duri
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Sep 19, 2011
Mary Louise
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Karl Stern, a skinny,cartoon drawing, fourteen-year-old blond, Teutonic looking boy in 1930s Germany, becomes the human punching bag for some bully schoolmates who know Karl is Jewish, even though his family doesn't practice Judaism. At Karl's father's failing art gallery that night the world famous boxing champ, Max Schmeling, who is an old friend of Karl's father, knows Karl's bloody face is the result of a beating and offers Karl's father a public barter deal, even though Karl's father would
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Sep 14, 2011
Stormi(Books, Movies, Reviews. Oh my!)
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This is a fantastic book based in Nazi era Germany. Karl Stern, is Jewish by birth but not by religion. His family does not practice nor do they have anything to do with being Jewish. Karl has never really had a problem with any kids because he doesn't really have the look of a Jew. He soon finds out that it doesn't matter if you practice the religion, or if you look the part. To those in Nazi Germany, a Jew is a Jew.
Karl is cornered by some kids he deems as "The Wolf Pack" More...
Karl is cornered by some kids he deems as "The Wolf Pack" More...
May 28, 2011
Margo
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Robert Sharenow's gripping new historical novel for teens tells the story of fourteen-year old Karl Stern, a young boy growing up in Berlin on the cusp of the Second World War. He's never thought of himself as a Jew--his parents are agnostic, he's never been to synagogue, and with his fair coloring, small nose, and tall, skinny build, he doesn't "look" Jewish. But it's 1934, and the bullies at his school are terrorizing the handful of Jewish students. After they beat him up, Karl pr
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Nov 04, 2010
Reader
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Berlin is no longer an idyllic location for the Stern family. Karl's father is unable to sustain his art business, his mother is increasingly melancholy and withdrawn, and his sister is bitter over her dark hair and prominent features. Karl is able to pass as Aryan and pursues his passion for boxing under the general guidance of Max Schmeling, even as Karl wonders where Max's true loyalties lay. When violence breaks out, Karl must protect his sister at all costs, even if it means turning to some
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Sep 19, 2011
Teacher.
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Reviewed at my blog: HERE @ Teacher.Mother.Reader Book Blog
The Berlin Boxing Club is a powerful new YA book written by Robert Sharenow. The book is a solid YA read that will draw readers into a historical fiction story set in World War II. This is only Sharenow’s second novel and he drew his inspiration from some real-life stories about World War II.
Karl Stern is a teenager living in Berlin in the 1930’s. He wasn’t raised in the Jewish faith, but that doesn’t stop h More...
Jul 17, 2011
Andrea (Reading Lark)
rated it:
Review Posted on Reading Lark 7/17/11
The Berlin Boxing Club isn't a book I would have picked up on my own. However, when this request came through and I noticed that it was set in Nazi era Germany, I thought I would give it a try. I am always on the lookout for historical fiction that I can use in my classroom. Also, I often find it difficult to find books that will appeal to the boys in my classroom. Boxing is one of those things that will certainly appeal to boys, but might turn fe More...
The Berlin Boxing Club isn't a book I would have picked up on my own. However, when this request came through and I noticed that it was set in Nazi era Germany, I thought I would give it a try. I am always on the lookout for historical fiction that I can use in my classroom. Also, I often find it difficult to find books that will appeal to the boys in my classroom. Boxing is one of those things that will certainly appeal to boys, but might turn fe More...
Jul 17, 2011
Reading
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Review Written by Andrea @ Reading Lark
The Berlin Boxing Club isn't a book I would have picked up on my own. However, when this request came through and I noticed that it was set in Nazi era Germany, I thought I would give it a try. I am always on the lookout for historical fiction that I can use in my classroom. Also, I often find it difficult to find books that will appeal to the boys in my classroom. Boxing is one of those things that will certainly appeal to boys, but might turn fe More...
The Berlin Boxing Club isn't a book I would have picked up on my own. However, when this request came through and I noticed that it was set in Nazi era Germany, I thought I would give it a try. I am always on the lookout for historical fiction that I can use in my classroom. Also, I often find it difficult to find books that will appeal to the boys in my classroom. Boxing is one of those things that will certainly appeal to boys, but might turn fe More...
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Aug 16, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
A emotional and gripping novel about a 14 year old Jewish boy who lives in Germany at the start or WWII. Karl Stern does not think he is a Jew. His family does not practice and he does not look like one, but her grandpaernts were Jewish and so his family is ridiculed and tormented. Karl takes up boxing with the help of a famous boxer and so his story begins....
This is not a book I would normally read. Several aspects of the book would normally bore me. I am not into boxing and have n More...
This is not a book I would normally read. Several aspects of the book would normally bore me. I am not into boxing and have n More...
Aug 07, 2011
Karen
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A lot of people will tell you that the first thing you have to learn is how to take a punch. But I believe the first thing you should know is that you can take one and survive. Conquering your fear is the first step to becoming a powerful fighter.
Karl is a blond, skinny fourteen-year-old in 1930s Berlin, when Hitler is on the rise and with him Nazi-approved racism and prejudice. Though he doesn't look like the Jewish stereotype and has never practiced the faith, the bullies in his school More...
Karl is a blond, skinny fourteen-year-old in 1930s Berlin, when Hitler is on the rise and with him Nazi-approved racism and prejudice. Though he doesn't look like the Jewish stereotype and has never practiced the faith, the bullies in his school More...
Aug 25, 2011
TheBookSmugglers
rated it:
Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/08/book...
Karl Stern is an artist, an older brother, a dreamer, and a Jew. In 1935 Berlin, Karl’s Jewishness is a curse, especially since his family is not religious, and he does not feel connection with his heritage in any way. As a blonde, fair-featured teen, he can even pass for Aryan – at least Karl thinks he’s evaded suspicion until he’s cornered by the “Wolf Pack” (a group of Nazi Youth members at Karl’s More...
Karl Stern is an artist, an older brother, a dreamer, and a Jew. In 1935 Berlin, Karl’s Jewishness is a curse, especially since his family is not religious, and he does not feel connection with his heritage in any way. As a blonde, fair-featured teen, he can even pass for Aryan – at least Karl thinks he’s evaded suspicion until he’s cornered by the “Wolf Pack” (a group of Nazi Youth members at Karl’s More...
Jul 28, 2011
Erin
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I've always enjoyed novels describing the vast diversity of experience during the Holocaust. Many of these books strike me as being about hope and the amazing capacity for humans to overcome, adapt and survive. They also serve as cautionary tales for what can happen when the worst aspects of humanity are allowed to flourish.
This story is a little different than many of the Holocaust stories I've grown up with. Karl is a Jew, but does not identify as such. Some of his feelings about J More...
This story is a little different than many of the Holocaust stories I've grown up with. Karl is a Jew, but does not identify as such. Some of his feelings about J More...
Feb 09, 2012
Yuko86
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La stella nel pugno è un romanzo di formazione ambientato nella Germania degli anni ‘30, in cui ci vengono narrate le vicissitudini di un giovane ragazzino ebreo la cui vita viene stravolta dal regime.
Inizialmente la vita di Karl è identica a quella di tutti i bambini tedeschi, e prosegue tranquilla anche durante la diffusione dei primi moti d’odio nei confronti degli ebrei grazie al suo aspetto ordinario e al fatto che la sua famiglia non è praticante. Ma quando alcuni ragazzi della s More...
Inizialmente la vita di Karl è identica a quella di tutti i bambini tedeschi, e prosegue tranquilla anche durante la diffusione dei primi moti d’odio nei confronti degli ebrei grazie al suo aspetto ordinario e al fatto che la sua famiglia non è praticante. Ma quando alcuni ragazzi della s More...
Feb 13, 2012
Over the past couple weeks I read “The Berlin Boxing Club” by Robert Sharenow. I thought it was a great book throughout. It is in the point of view of Karl Stern who happens to have Jewish heritage in the makings of Nazi Germany. He never thinks of himself as Jewish and keeps his heritage a secret, but somehow bullies at his school find out and harass him. In the beginning, his parents disillusion him to the situation his father’s art gallery has been put in by the Nazis. He starts out the book
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Feb 13, 2012
Matt
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The Berlin Boxing Club was a very well written book by Robert Sharenow. This was the first book I have read by this author and since first impressions are key it's important to note that I would read another book by him. The book starts out with a boy named Karl who goes to school in Germany. He is a Jewish boy and boys pick on him constantly. One day a gang of boys beats him up."Franz threw several punches at my face, landing on my eye and the side of my mouth." (p.12) This is a quote
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Sep 02, 2011
Beverly
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The Berlin Boxing Club will be a classic. "Not all Germans are the same. It is only politics. It will pass." Every time Karl tries to talk to an adult about what is happening in his neighborhood in Berlin in 1934 that is what they say. Even his Jewish parents. Karl decides if he can become the greatest young boxer in Germany, it will change people's impressions of Jews. Max Schmeling is a family friend, and he arranges for Karl to train at his gym. Since no one at the gym knows Karl is
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Jan 01, 2012
Sonja
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I shy away from books set during the Holocaust because they make me so very, very sad, so I was surprised to fall in love with this book - blazing through the entire 400 pages in a day. Karl Stern is Jewish, but doesn't think of himself that was because he's from a non-religious family. But as Nazi-led anti-Semitism grinds ever deeper into Berlin society, his Judiasm brings unwanted attention from a group of bullies. As his family's life is slowly pulled apart by Nazi oppression and hatred, Karl
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Mar 31, 2011
Diana
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Never thought I would give a boxing book 5 stars but like Markus Zusak's Fighting Ruben Wolfe this is much, much more than a book about boxing. Sharenow author of the outstanding debut novel My Mother the Cheerleader, is a master at bringing 20th century history to life through story. In The Berlin Boxing Club, scrawny Karl Stern meets famous boxing champion Max Schmeling at his father's art gallery and is given lessons in exchange for a painting. As the Nazis become more oppressive, Karl is ex
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Dec 17, 2011
Paul
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There have been few books that I have read recently that inspire me to become an author. The Berlin Boxing Club was one of those special books. I connected on many different levels with this novel about a young boy's self-discovery in 1930's Germany during the rise of Hitler. There were parts of this book that made me think of Schindler's List since part of the story revolved around Max Schmeling, a historical figure who saved the lives of two young Jewish men in Berlin. Part of this book made m
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Jul 30, 2011
Jeffrey
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This book for some reason caught by attention right away when i saw it in the library. I haven't read a book this great in a while and was ecstatic when i started reading it. The story is about a non-religious Jewish boy living in Nazi Germany who inspires to be a comic drawer. He is bullied and started getting boxing lessons from the champion boxer of Germany. The narrations was well made and even shows some of Karl's comic strips. This is a great insight from a Jewish perspective of Nazi Germa
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Feb 09, 2012
Amanda
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It doesn't matter whether or not you are interested in boxing! Read this book! "The Berlin Boxing Club" tells the story of a young teenage boy named Karl. According to German law, Karl is Jewish, but Karl does not consider himself Jewish and goes about his life as such...until 1935. In incident at school, some of Karl's classmates find out that Karl is indeed Jewish and beat him up. Thanks to family friend and a famous boxer, Karl then starts to take up boxing to learn how to buil
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Jan 11, 2012
Thomas
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This book is a very interesting read about a very hectic time in the history of the world. When I started reading it, I figured I would feel the same detached, non-caring mindset I get when I read of the history of this time. It was actually the exact opposite of that. Karl, a Jewish teenager in Berlin at the time just before the Holocaust gets beat up, and then eventually trains under a very successful boxing champion to try to fight his way to a title to prove to himself and the public that he
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Nov 03, 2011
Thomas
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This book is a very interesting read about a very hectic time in the history of the world. When I started reading it, I figured I would feel the same detached, non-caring mindset I get when I read of the history of this time. It was actually the exact opposite of that. Karl, a Jewish teenager in Berlin at the time just before the Holocaust gets beat up, and then eventually trains under a very successful boxing champion to try to fight his way to a title to prove to himself and the public that he
More...
