A. S. King meets Chris Crutcher in boxing journalist Sarah Deming's YA novel about a young female boxer who learns to fight for what she wants.
Gravity "Doomsday" Delgado is good at breaking things. Maybe she learned it from her broken home.
But since she started boxing with a legendary coach at a gym in Brooklyn, Gravity is finding her talent for breaking things has an upside. Lately, she's been breaking records, breaking her competitors, and breaking down the walls inside her. Boxing is taking her places, and if she just stays focused, she knows she'll have a shot at the Olympics.
Life outside the ring is heating up, too. Suddenly she's flirting (and more) with a cute boxer at her gym--much to her coach's disapproval. Meanwhile, things at home with Gravity's mom are reaching a tipping point, and Gravity has to look out for her little brother, Ty. With Olympic dreams, Gravity will have to decide what is worth fighting for.
I have had this book on my radar for a while. I love reading sports books, and especially when we are talking about elite level sports. What sweetened the deal was the sport involved - boxing. I find the sport so brutal, but reading about women trying to be taken seriously in this world was fascinating. But this wasn't just a girl-trying-to-make-it-in-a-man's-world story.
This was a story about a young women, who pushed herself to succeed despite multiple obstacles in her way. A girl, who had to fight the negativity of a thieving alcoholic mother and an absent father to believe in herself and her talent. A girl, who had to push through her workouts and school, while assuming parenting duties for her younger brother. Let's just say, it was easy to root for Gravity. My need for her to succeed was great, and I was proud of her.
There was drama and romance and heartbreak and lots of boxing! It was quite a world Deming brought me into, and I was glad to have taken this journey to the Olympics with Gravity.
