A Fighting Chance

by Claudia Melendez Salinas (Contributor)

In this contemporary novel for young adults about star crossed lovers, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks who hopes to haul himself and his family out of the barrio as an aspiring boxer falls in love with a beautiful rich girl whose father forbids her to date Mexicans.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Sports

285 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2015

Reviews

[Julia Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a heart-wrenching story of kids whose stories are rarely told. Yes, there are a lot of YA books about poor, inner city kids, but this book's setting is a very American reality that's mostly ignored in books and films.

Miguel Angel is the son of immigrants, living in a small California city mostly populated by farmworkers and their families. Yet the kids growing up here in dire poverty also face what most of us think of as urban phenomena: violent gangs, drugs and crime.

Miguel Angel's struggles to resist these forces while pursuing love and trying help keep his family afloat are described with a calm realism and precision that brings to life what's actually going on these days in the American west.

Young people who grew up these agricultural communities will finally get to see themselves in a novel; others will get to know a stunning part of America they never imagined could exist. One more note: despite its tragic elements, the author's love for the area is obvious and some passages of writing were so beautifully written they brought tears to my eyes.

[Nolan Sease · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the book A Fighting Chance by Claudia Melendez Salinas. The book is about a guy named Miguel Angel and his girlfriend Britney and their lives and how stressful it gets. I like this book because it is very interesting and there is a lot going on at all times. There’s lots of suspense and emotions throughout the book. Some things I don’t like about the book is that there is almost too much going on and it feels like there are some problems that get pushed aside and forget about them. I also don’t connect to some of the characters in the story and think they are not very likable. Overall the book A Fighting Chance is good but there are more adult topics in this book that younger kids won’t understand. I also think it’s a good book for people that play sports and have a lot going on. I rate A fighting chance a 3 out of 5.

[Eduardo Nunez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot because it takes place in my hometown. This book showed a lot of Salinas' past and how much dangerous it use to be. But aside from that the book also shared light on how to enjoy yourself and the story of Miguel Angel's journey to becoming the best boxer he can be. Overall I recommend this book to anyone who grew up in Salinas and anyone who wants to read the past of our city.

[Mollie Hicok Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely portrayal of the Salinas Valley with both its “beauty and pain” (284). Most teenage readers will eat this up since it has all the hallmarks of a teen romance and dramatic violence. It reminds me of SE Hinton’s THE OUTSIDERS because of the gang fights and Miguel Angel is akin to Ponyboy.

[RJ Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Fighting Chance is a book about a young boy who hopes boxing can take him out of his rough neighborhood. Although the book tries to tell the story of a young boy the writing is not the best. Towards the middle of the book everything gets confusing and hard to read.

[Linda Castillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written book capturing the life of young Miguel Angel as he is caught in the crossroads. The last few chapters will have you at the edge of your seat!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know much about Salinas, California, before reading this book, but now that I've read it, I'm curious to know more. The author describes the socioeconomic divide between its residents and the nearby region of Monterey quite clearly. She even introduces a term I'd never heard before to describe that divide: the lettuce curtain. The novel revolves around an unlikely romantic pairing--seventeen-year-old Miguel Angel and Britney Scozzari-whose love hits the rocks when she becomes pregnant, and doesn't want to have his child at a young age, and when her overprotective father forbids the relationship. Readers will quickly see the connections to Romeo and Juliet here since everything happens over a short period of time, and there are figures that are tragic as well as those that provide humor. Through it all, though, readers will root for Miguel and Britney to somehow defy the odds and make it. Still, readers will realize that their odd aren't good. Miguel's childhood friend, Beto, is increasingly drawn into the gang life and wants Miguel to join him. Miguel has put all his hopes on a professional career in boxing, and to that end, he trains and works out religiously. Given all the financial advantages a girl could want, Britney still never thinks she can quite measure up to her sister or to her father's expectations. While Miguel does have something of a fighting chance to reach his goals, the odds are against that happening, and many readers will hope that he just makes it out of Salinas alive. Because the book shows how Britney and Miguel are reacting to the challenges they face, the book has an added depth that makes it particularly appealing. The fact that Miguel idolizes Mohammed Ali, the great boxer, and is often secretly trying to read a book about him reveals a lot about him as well since the lives of the two have some parallels. There are threads of political and social activism woven throughout the book's pages as Coach, Miguel's boxing mentor, becomes caught up in political infighting and the training center he has run for years, the Packing Shed, is on the chopping block. Love and compassion are woven into the fabric of the novel, even while it describes the challenges of growing up poor and almost without hope in the barrio.

[Liz]

A great read! It was my Valentine's Day gift to my teenage nieces, who swooned over brooding, driven, sensual Miguel. I loved his tight knit family, but their ethereal Grandmother steals every chapter she's in. Miguel does steal your heart as well and you root for him until the very last sentence. I was touched how Melendez paid homage to Salinas, California, its people and history while unfolding Miguel's tempestuos story involving his manipulative best friend and disconnected Pebble Beach girlfriend and her spiteful parents. A few chapters in, Matt la Peña's, "Ball Don't Lie", came to mind as Miguel escapes into the boxing gym where we listen in on Miguel's thoughts, his dreams, anguish, and struggle to walk his talk and not betray his dreams. I highly recommend it as a summer read or rainy weekend, like I did!

[Sandie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed certain aspects of this contemporary romance about a low-income Latino boxer and his rich blonde girlfriend from the posh golf town, but it just didn't resonate with me. It's clear the author knew about the setting and the poverty the teens have to face in that part of California, but the story itself was cliche, and some characters were a bit over the top (like the girl's crazy father).