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The Berlin Boxing Club

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 1,072 ratings · 229 reviews

Fourteen-year-old Karl Stern has never thought of himself as a Jew. But to the bullies at his school in Naziera Berlin, it doesn't matter that Karl has never set foot in a synagogue or that his family doesn't practice religion. Demoralized by relentless attacks on a heritage he doesn't accept as his own, Karl longs to prove his worth to everyone around him.

So when Max Schm...more

Hardcover, 399 pages

Published April 26th 2011 by HarperCollins Canada / Other

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Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

2012 YALSA Nominees - List 2

6th out of 77 books — 26 voters

Mock Printz 2012

28th out of 51 books — 222 voters

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Jul 22, 2012 Missy Frye rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, historical, ya, wwii-era

Have you ever read a book that you knew had to be shared, not just with a friend or family member, but with the multitudes. The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow should be read by all teenage boys.

Fourteen-year-old Karl Stern has never thought of himself as a Jew. But to the bullies at his school in Nazi era Berlin, it doesn't matter that Karl has never set foot in a synagogue or that his family doesn't practice religion. Demoralized by relentless attacks on a heritage he doesn't accept as

...more Have you ever read a book that you knew had to be shared, not just with a friend or family member, but with the multitudes. The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow should be read by all teenage boys.

Fourteen-year-old Karl Stern has never thought of himself as a Jew. But to the bullies at his school in Nazi era Berlin, it doesn't matter that Karl has never set foot in a synagogue or that his family doesn't practice religion. Demoralized by relentless attacks on a heritage he doesn't accept as his own, Karl longs to prove his worth to everyone around him.

So when Max Schmeling, champion boxer and German national hero, makes a deal with Karl's father to give Karl boxing lessons, Karl sees it as the perfect chance to reinvent himself. A skilled cartoonist, Karl has never had an interest in boxing, but as Max becomes the mentor Karl never had, Karl soon finds both his boxing skills and his art flourishing.

But when Nazi violence against Jews escalates, Karl must take on a new role: protector of his family. Karl longs to ask his new mentor for help, but with Max's fame growing, he is forced to associate with Hitler and other Nazi elites, leaving Karl to wonder where his hero's sympathies truly lie. Can Karl balance his dream of boxing greatness with his obligation to keep his family out of harm's way?

Future generations should be made aware of the historical events this book imparts. The story itself brings the events to life with clarity. Using universal dilemmas of youth, such as being bullied and finding your first love, Sharenow compounds their effects using the backdrop of Germany adopting Nazism.

The characters are so complex and real; their hardships become ours. Through boxing, under the tutelage of the German national hero, Max Schmeling, fourteen year-old Karl Stern discovers himself. Unexpected encounters with people from his father’s past, sheds new light on the man who raised him, but never shared the horrors he witnessed. Karl becomes a man during one of the darkest times in World History and his dreams, desires and heartaches are laid bare to the reader. Unfairness takes on new meaning under Nazi oppression.

I’ll be looking for other titles by Sharenow and this book will most likely be donated to the local public school library. It’s a worthy read both for the story and the historical significance. (less)

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Mar 21, 2013 Ms Cochran rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I liked how although this is a fictional account of Kristallnacht and a Jewish family in Berlin, it's set against the history between Max Schmelling and Joe Louis. I'll admit not a boxing fan, but the writing made me want to learn more about the sport; maybe because it meant so much to Karl and I became fond of his character.

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Jun 06, 2013 Darius Powell rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book I read was the Berlin Boxing Club. The book wasn’t that great to me. The book took a while to get to the point. It started out alright = but took a while to get to the climax. I hardly learned anything from this book. There were no morals in this book that would pertain to me.
This book started out promisingly enough - decent characters, plotting, writing, etc. I was frustrated by the fact of the characters being so simple and boring. Some of the character’s thoughts and the writing sty...more

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May 21, 2013 Emma Foley rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow follows the life of one young Karl Stern during the rise of the Nazi party in Berlin, Germany. Other important characters include his younger sister, his mother, his father, and Max Schleming. The plot of this historical-fiction novel is based around the real-life boxing champion Max Schleming, who did actually help save two young Jewish children.

Karl Stern is a Jewish teenager who looks nothing like the Nazi-propaganda posters say he should. As...more

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May 21, 2013 Chelsea Standen added it

The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow. A boy named Karl Stern that struggles with bullies at school and troubles protecting his family from the SS and Hitler taking over. This was written in the time period of the Holocaust describing more about the terrible time period it actually was.

Karl Stern is sick of being bullied and wants to become someone new. He has never practiced any sort of religion but according to the boys at school he is just like any other Jew. One day comes along when h...more

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May 20, 2013 Emma F. rated it 4 of 5 stars

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May 09, 2013 Rebecca Baker added it

Rebecca Baker

Sharenow, Robert.(2011). The Berlin Boxing Club. New York:HarperCollins Publishers.

Genre: Sports

Format: Print

This books was found based on reviews found on Goodreads.com and through the Greenville Public Library.

The Berlin Boxing Club tells the story of Karl Stern, a teenage boy living in 1930s Germany in the midst of the rise of the Nazi Party. Karl Stern is one of only a handful of Jewish boys in his school, most people don't even know that he is Jewish, due to his light Aryan fea...more Rebecca Baker

Sharenow, Robert.(2011). The Berlin Boxing Club. New York:HarperCollins Publishers.

Genre: Sports

Format: Print

This books was found based on reviews found on Goodreads.com and through the Greenville Public Library.

The Berlin Boxing Club tells the story of Karl Stern, a teenage boy living in 1930s Germany in the midst of the rise of the Nazi Party. Karl Stern is one of only a handful of Jewish boys in his school, most people don't even know that he is Jewish, due to his light Aryan features. His ethnicity is something he tries to keep secrete from everyone at school. One a group of boys, who recently joined the Nazi Youth Party, known as the Wolf Pack corner Karl at school and beat him up for being Jewish. His secret was now out. That night at his father's gallery opening, he meets a man that will change his life. In walks Max Schmeling, world famous German heavy weight boxer. Schmeling is an old friend of Karl's father and after seeing Karl's badly beaten face offers to be his trainer. Karl is thrilled with the idea of being trained by the "Champ" and to finally be able to defend himself. As Karl trains to be a boxer, the life for German Jews steadily becomes worse. More and more restrictions are place on the Jews. Karl ignores the outside world, even as his family suffers from loss of business and eventually their home, focusing solely on his boxing world. This all changes the night of Kristallnacht, when the Sterns' makeshift home is destroyed and Karl's father is badly hurt. Karl must turn to Schmeling, who's political standing seems to be with the Nazi Party, to save his family.

This was a fascinating book that combined the sport of boxing with the events of Nazi Germany. What makes this story so interesting are the two main characters. Karl Stern is a non-practicing Jew who does't identify with the Jews or Jewish Culture, but is being persecuting for being Jewish. It provides a new perspective to the life of Jews in Nazi Germany. The use of the character of Max Schmeling is also very interesting. Schmeling was a real heavy weight boxer from Germany during this time. He is a controversial figure, due to his association with Hitler and the Nazi Party's top leaders. He had numerous Jewish friends though. Schmeling's politics were never really known and the author does a great job of addressing this throughout the book. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of boxing or the Holocaust. (less)

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May 01, 2013 Ayla rated it 5 of 5 stars

In THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB, Karl, a young Jewish boy, becomes a boxer to defend himslef from the "Hitler Youth" and figures out he wants to become even more that that. As he is trying to strive for perfection in techniques, he finds himself tstriving to protect his entire family from the SS and getting them out of Nazi Germany.

THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB was a perfect story to show how Jewish people were treated and how they personally felt during World War 2. The novel was very sad and had an effect...more In THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB, Karl, a young Jewish boy, becomes a boxer to defend himslef from the "Hitler Youth" and figures out he wants to become even more that that. As he is trying to strive for perfection in techniques, he finds himself tstriving to protect his entire family from the SS and getting them out of Nazi Germany.

THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB was a perfect story to show how Jewish people were treated and how they personally felt during World War 2. The novel was very sad and had an effect on me because Robert Sharenow made the feelings of the characters very lifelike and I felt the emotions of the characters. THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB would be perfect for almost anyone. Especially those who are learning about the Holocaust or learning about the push against Jews in Germany.

The characters in this book were perfectly put together. The most realistic character to me would be Karl's mother. She goes into a depressed mood any time something bad happens in her life. The book starts right when the Jews are starting to be excluded from mostly everything and she will just lock herself in the bathroom and sit in the bath for hours. I think she would be a real character because she knew there was nothing she could do. The government and the police would have it however they wanted it and the rules were just not in her favor.

Also, i liked the character of Karl's little sister. She was getting the worst out of all of the characters because she apparently looked like a Jew so there was no way she could actually hide the fact that she was one. She gets tortured in the book and it was realistic because she was tired of being the kind of human she was and she took it out on those who didn't look like she did and they looked normal. Karl didn't look Jewish so he got away with it longer than the rest of his family. I could almost relate to her because sometimes I wish I didn't look they way I do, but don't we all think that sometimes?

I loved all f the fighting scenes in the book. Karl becomes a great fighter and Robert Sharenow wrote THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB so all of the boxing scenes play like a movie in your head. All of the scenes were as if they came out of a Rocky movie. Every detail was thought of and every moment was captured.

This book was shocking and inspiring by the way it was written and the show of determination in the eyes of a young boy going through the worst part of his life.(less)

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Jan 01, 2013 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, historical-fiction, holocaust-fiction

A powerful read and excellent addition to the YA Holocaust historical fiction genre. Set against the backdrop of Hitler's rising power in Germany, the plot involves the struggles of Karl Stern, a teenage boy (Jewish by heritage, but not by practice) who must deal with increasing bullying and discrimination from his peers as well as the community at large. The real-life boxer Max Schmeling plays a pivotal role in Karl's life and readers will find the historical boxing facts fascinating (actual vi...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Alexander rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, read-this-year

This was an unbelievable book. It was a truly touching, inspirational story, and a great eyeopener to the horrors that were performed during the great depression.
Alongside that fact, a couple specific sentences really hit home for me. The first one appeared after his parents had a major fight around page 180. "Race and religion didn't seem to matter in the ring, or if they mattered, they were points of pride or distinction." This one has a really strong meaning, even if it were unintended. It go...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Sharon Looby rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am obsessed with books on the Holocaust and this book told of a story from a very different aspect. I enjoyed reading it due to it being different. Karl is a young boy who's family lives in Germany. his father runs an art gallery that once was very well respected and supported. But as Hitlers Germany starts changing things, so does life for Karl and his family. His family is of Jewish blood but they by no means practice the religion and for all of his life, Karl never thought himself a Jew. As...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Nick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Aimed at young adults, this provides a very different view of the oppression of the Jews under Nazi Germany.
Karl doesn't think of himself as Jewish, even though his grandparents were. He's never been to synagogue, and his parents are non-observant. His father's only passion is for modern art, and he has taught Karl that the beliefs of Judaism are too old-fashioned.
That doesn't matter to the Nazis, as they slowly change the laws and the rules of society. Karl's only escape is into the world of b...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

This powerful and thought-provoking novel set in Berlin from 1934 to 1938 dramatically chronicles the impact of Hitler's rise to power through the eyes of Karl Stern. After suffering a humiliating beating by some pro-Nazi bullies, the 13-year-old happily accepts the chance to be coached by Max Schmeling, the champion boxer he meets at a reception in his father's art gallery. Boxing has never been one of Karl's interests, but it becomes his main focus. Prior to his humiliation at school, drawing...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ethnic-identity, historical, holocaust, jewish, lgbtq, war, wwii, ya

Things I enjoyed about this book:
1. It told me about the Holocaust from the perspective of an athlete, which I have not seen before, so yay.
2. It gave the story of a boy who was labeled as a Jew by the Nazis, although he felt zero affiliation with Judaism and even agreed with some Nazi ideals at the start of the story.
3. There is a cross-dressing hero and he isn't just thrown in at random; you get to see Karl's understanding and acceptance of The Countess grow.
4. (view spoiler)...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Ricki rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Although Karl Stern's family is not religious, they are considered Jewish based on the fact that three out of four grandparents were Jewish. Luckily for Karl, he does not have Jewish features, so his classmates and the public are unaware of his heritage. When his classmates discover his true religion, they beat him up. At an art auction, his father's friend, Max Schmeling, offers to give him boxing lessons. (Max Schmeling was a very famous boxer at the time who knocked out Joe Louis.)

Karl develo...more

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May 23, 2012 zoe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Karl Stern is a fourteen year old boy, growing up in Berlin. His family is not one that practices Jewish traditions, but they have Jewish roots. While Karl and his father do not show "Jewish" characteristics, his mother and sister do; curly black hair, and larger noses. The fact that Karl has never touched a synagog or that he doesn't identify with the religion of Judaism holds no weight with the bullies of his school. After a very quick one sided fight (not to is favor), Karl is left with no se...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Johnp rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, drama, historical-fiction, holocaust, parent-issues, relationships, violence, war-related

Karl Stern and his family are the wrong people in the wrong place (Jews in 1930s Germany). Hitler is rising to power and the local Youth Group (called the Wolf Pack) are making Karl’s life a misery with beatings and harrassments. As Karl attends one of his father’s art gallery parties, he meets Max Schmeling - Germany’s world-famous boxer. Max makes a deal with Karl’s dad: a painting in exchange for boxing lessons for Karl. Thus begins Kar’s experiences with the Berlin Boxing Club. As Germany co...more

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Mar 05, 2012 La Stamberga dei Lettori rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: polyfilo

Protagonista del libro è Karl Stern, un quattordicenne berlinese sul finire degli anni Trenta. Karl è ebreo, eppure è un ragazzo come tanti, fosse solo per il suo aspetto ariano, alto, slanciato, biondo, e per l'indifferenza della sua famiglia nei confronti delle tradizioni ebree. Un ragazzo come tanti, soprattutto, che vive le esperienze della sua difficile età di transizione: a metà tra l'infanzia, che sembra sfuggirgli dalle mani e che resiste solo grazie allo smisurato affetto per la sorella...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Alex Baugh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: world-war-2

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 Karl boxing le...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: YA

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...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Nicole Politi rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 his Jewish...more

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Nov 29, 2011 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: peach-consideration

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 offers to tra...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Richie Partington rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 Max's name and face appe...more

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Nov 22, 2011 Patricia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mock-printz, read-in-2011, ya-books

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 depressing category, wi...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Beaverton City Library Teens rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

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 focus on b...more

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Oct 07, 2011 Briony Zlomke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bfya, historical-fiction, ya, holocaust

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 durin...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Mary Louise Sanchez rated it 5 of 5 stars

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...more 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 like to set a price on the painting of Max. Max wants to give Karl private boxing lessons in exchange for the painting and Karl's father accepts so as not to lose face.

The first boxing lessons Max gives are training lessons. Karl is to squeeze a rubber ball to increase the strength in his hands and fingers. Karl is also to shovel coal into the apartment building, for no pay, because it builds arms and shoulders. Finally, Kark is to do the three hundred--one hundered push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, fifty pull-ups and fifty minutes of running. While Max is traveling the world for his boxing career, Karl religiously trains on his own and continues to draw cartoons to entertain his little sister, Hildy. He now delivers secret papers from his father to the Countess, who is really a man, because the Countess, a World War I friend of his father, pays good money for the service.

Finally, Max Schmeling comes back to Germany and remembers the barter bargain and now Karl begins boxing lessons at the Berlin Boxing Club. Karl immediately embraces the fighter's life, including bouts with adult men. Karl continues following Max's career, especially his world publicized bout with the American, Joe Lewis. Karl even researches great boxers, some of whom he learns are Jewish. They become his heroes and he focuses on everything boxing even though the rest of his life is crumbling around him. His depressed mother spends more and more time in the bathtub; Karl and four other students are expelled from their school and now attend a Jewish school; riots are all around and the family must leave the apartment and live in the art gallery. Karl is hit harder with some powerful punches. His father is cheated out of an art deal and when Karl tries to earn some money with a big boxing purse, a former bully schoolmate cheats him out of it by telling the officials Karl is Jewish. On one of the last rounds in Karl's life, his father is beaten and then arrested for being a Jew. The only person Karl wants in his corner now is Max Schmeling but Max seems to be part of the Nazi team. No matter, Karl is the man in the family and must find a way to get himself and his sister out of Germany. (less)

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Sep 14, 2011 Stormi (Lightning Book Promotions) rated it 5 of 5 stars

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" and they confront him...more 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" and they confront him about being a Jew, this is his first experience with hatred towards Jews and it will only get worse. Karl's father is a art dealer, and a very stubborn and prideful man. Even though most artist are leaving Germany do to Hitler taking away the freedom to express oneself in any form but the way of Nazis, Karl's father still hold to his art gallery.

After Karl is beat up, his father makes a deal with Max Schmeling, champion boxer and German national hero. Max wanted a painted that Sig (Karl's father) has so they make a deal that Max will give Karl boxing lesson and Max can have the painting. Karl is thrilled, and soon starts a training regimen that Max gives him.

As things start heating up in Germany, Karl soon realizes how bad it really is for the Jewish population. Although his father refuses to see it, it will eventual catch up to Karl and his family. This is a story told through the eyes of a teenager as he sees his world crumbling before him as Hitlers propaganda grows.

I can honestly say when I was asked to review this book that I wasn't really sure whether to say yes or no, this is really not my type of book. I am not a big fan of any stories set around WWII, as its not my favorite war. My step-grandfather was part Jew and so I get a little aggravated when reading or watching anything to do with WWII, but this was a very well told story.

The author took actual characters and events and then wove a fictitious story around them, and he did it with creative style. Max Schemling was a real German boxer from the Nazi era and I found it very interesting how the author puts him into the story.

From the very first page I knew this story was going to upset me as well as entertain me. This is the first time in a long time, that I have read a book that grabbed me from the first page and held my attention to the last page. Karl Stern is a well developed character and you really can feel his conflicting emotions through out the story. I really wanted to punch the punching bag with him when he was frustrated. From the things that happen within his own life (girlfriend, friends, school, boxing), to what was happening with his family as a whole.

This story is very fast paced and gripping and I think even if its not your style of book that it is a powerful enough book to get anybodies attention. I would recommend this book to everyone.
(less)

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May 28, 2011 Margo Tanenbaum rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1930-s, holocaust, germany, jewish

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 providentially...more 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 providentially gets the opportunity to take boxing lessons with the world-famous German heavyweight Max Schmeling, who it turns out is a friend of his father's.

Karl's never been much of an athlete, preferring to spend his free time drawing cartoons inspired by American and German comic strips. In fact, his comics are interspersed throughout the novel. He's lived a comfortable upper-middle class life in Berlin, with his little sister, their maid, and his parents, who own an art gallery that specialized in expressionist artists--at least until the Nazis deemed their art "degenerate," and forbade galleries to exhibit their work. But with the Nazis in power, business at their gallery is drying up, and their livelihood is coming from printing illicit flyers and serving as a middleman for desperate Jews anxious to sell their art before leaving the country.

Throughout this period, boxing becomes an unexpected sanctuary for Karl, and the men of the Berlin Boxing Club, where Schmeling trains when he's in town, become a second family for him. For Karl it's a new world, "a world of men and warriors," where he could dream of becoming German Youth Champion. As long as no one discovers his secret, that is--that he is Jewish. Schmeling puts Karl on a grueling training regimen of shoveling coal, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and running, before he even lets him get in the ring. Karl also has to re-learn how to stand, breathe, and even eat as part of his training. Soon he's sparring with grown-up men at the club, aspiring professional boxers who jokingly dub him "the punching bag." As Karl re-shapes his body, he develops more confidence, even beginning a clandestine relationship with a beautiful Catholic girl in his apartment building. While hiding his Jewish identity from his boxing friends, he's astonished to discover in American boxing magazines at the club that Italians, Irish, blacks, and Jews dominate boxing in the U.S. One famous American fighter is even the son of an Orthodox rabbi!

As conditions for Jews worsen throughout Germany with the passing of the Nuremberg laws, Karl is expelled from school for being Jewish, and his family is evicted from their apartment and forced to move into their gallery. At the same time, his idol and mentor, Max Schmeling, is pictured in the press hobnobbing with Hitler, Goebbels, and other Nazi leaders; Karl can't make sense of it, considering he knows Max has many Jewish friends and even his American manager is a Jew. When Max takes on black heavyweight Joe Louis in the ring, it's more than a boxing match; it's a test of the Nazis' theories of Germany racial superiority. The story comes to a climax around the harrowing night of Kristallnacht, when Karl's father's business is targeted by roving bands of Nazis. Will Karl's friend Max be able to help save Karl and his family?

Sharenow was clearly inspired by the real-life story of two Jewish boys who were actually rescued by Schmeling on Kristallnacht, although he is careful to note in an author's note that any similarities between the Stern family and the family of the rescued boys are "purely coincidental." The author's note recounts briefly what happened to Schmeling, who was drafted as a paratrooper during the war, an especially dangerous duty that many interpreted as a "punishment" for his loss to Louis. After the war Schmeling because a successful businessman with Coca-Cola, and was one of the pallbearers at Joe Louis' funeral (even paying for the funeral expenses, since Louis had fallen on hard times). An afterword provides details on Sharenow's many sources for this well-researched novel, which included watching newsreels and films of Schmeling and Louis' fights on You Tube, as well as researching comic book pioneers from both Germany and the U.S. and numerous interviews with people who lived in Germany. Sharenow's website includes a variety of historical video clips, not only of Schmeling and Louis' fights, but of Schmeling and his wife, a glamorous German movie star, in a film they made together, Berlin cabaret music, and more.

So far Berlin Boxing Club has received well-deserved starred reviews from Kirkus and Publisher's Weekly; it's one of the best books I have read so far this year and I'm hoping this is a book the Printz award committee will be taking a close look at. It's a book that is sure to appeal to many boys--even reluctant readers--but my 16-year old daughter also gobbled it up in one sitting. There's plenty to appeal to adult readers as well, although the book is definitely a coming-of-age tale that's typical of the YA genre. Even the minor characters in the book, such as the cross-dressing "countess" who's an old army buddy of Karl's dad from World War I, are highly memorable. This book is definitely a "must purchase" for public and school libraries.
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Nov 04, 2010 Reader rated it 4 of 5 stars

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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...more

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About Robert Sharenow

Robert Sharenow is an award-winning writer and television producer. His first novel, My Mother the Cheerleader, was chosen as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and a VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers.

He is also an Emmy Award-winning television producer and serves as senior vice preside...more

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Quotes from The Berlin Boxing Club

“The weakest punches are thrown with the tongue.” — 8 people liked it

“Today you had a very important lesson on taking punches. 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. A punch won't kill you. Conquering your fear is the first step to becoming a powerful fighter.” — 3 people liked it

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