
Sonny Bear, the heavyweight champ, is on a fast downhill slide, and there's no brake in sight. Nothing seems to matter anymore -- not the money, not the fame, and not even the title. Sonny needs something -- or someone -- to make him realize that he is still the champ.Starkey has never met Sonny, but he knows that he can help him get back in the ring. But first Starkey needs to find Sonny before it's too late.With Starkey's help, Sonny gets back on track -- but will his rise back to the top mean a knockout for Starkey?Robert Lipsyte, recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in young adult fiction, returns to the characters from his award-winning novels The Contender, The Brave, and The Chief in this long-awaited powerful conclusion to the series.
Sonny Bear, a heavyweight champion spiraling toward self-destruction, faces a final opportunity to reclaim his identity through the intervention of a determined stranger. Sonny struggles with the loss of purpose that often accompanies sudden fame and wealth, finding himself adrift in a world that no longer feels meaningful. Starkey, a man who has never met the boxer, initiates a search to pull Sonny back from his decline and return him to the ring. The narrative follows their converging paths as they navigate the physical demands of training and the psychological weight of past failures, ultimately questioning the cost of redemption in a high-stakes environment.
Readers frequently highlight the author's ability to capture the grit and isolation inherent in the world of professional boxing. Discussion often centers on the complex moral ambiguity of the characters as they navigate their respective paths toward redemption. Critics note that the narrative maintains a consistent tone with the earlier books in the series while providing a definitive conclusion to the protagonist's arc. The balance between the physical action of the sport and the internal development of the characters remains a focal point for those analyzing the work's effectiveness. Many readers appreciate the lack of sentimentality in the resolution, finding it consistent with the realistic nature of the preceding novels.
Page Count:
192
Publication Date:
2003-03-04
Publisher:
HarperTeen
ISBN-10:
0060004967
ISBN-13:
9780060004965
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