Why I Fight »

Left alone for days on end, twelve-and-a-half-year-old Wyatt Reaves burns down the family house. His parents lose everything, but Wyatt’s favorite uncle, Spade, whisks him away to “safety.” Spade sees potential in the boy—to earn money—in the bare-fist fight racket. As the two travel across America for the next six years, living off Wyatt’s earnings and the goodness of ladyfriends, Wyatt begins to search for who he really is . . . and to realize who he isn’t.

VOYA

On his half birthday, twelve-year-old Wyatt finds himself homeless and in a shelter, no shoes on his feet, and his parents screaming threats at him through the door of a social worker's office. His Uncle Spade shows up like some cool guardian angel with a muscle car and whisks him off to a life of adventure on the road. Spade is a traveling salesman of dubious moral character, selling merchandise of questionable provenance. He is woefully unprepared to meet the developmental needs of a child, yet he is a considerable step up from Wyatt's birth parents. Spade is a hustler and soon learns how to exploit Wyatt, turning him into a successful bare-knuckle fighter. Together they crisscross the country like characters in a violent, dysfunctional-family/buddy film. Wyatt keeps fighting and winning, and he tries to raise himself, with occasional input from one of his uncle's "girlfriends." Using first-person narrative and the fractured grammar of an undereducated teen, Oaks puts readers inside Wyatt's head. He is a troubled youth being raised by little better than wolves. The fighting is a fairly obvious metaphor for Wyatt's hardscrabble journey from victim to victor but will engage male readers. The story succeeds because of Wyatt's voice, capturing all his vulnerable, messy humanity. This novel is a tough-guy's coming-of-age story, and its brief length will likely appeal to reluctant readers. Librarians should be aware that the book references violence, drugs, and alcohol and includes a scene in a Gentleman's Club. Reviewer: Amy Fiske