{"product_id":"9781442474727","title":"Sunday You Learn How to Box","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eSunday You Learn How to Box\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Bil Wright\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eStrength and resilience fuel an urban teen’s fight for survival in this acclaimed novel from Bil Wright that “delivers a knock-out punch” (\u003ci\u003eVenus Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFourteen-year-old Louis Bowman lives in a boxing ring—a housing project circa 1968—and is fighting “just to get to the end of the round.” Sharing the ring is his mother, Jeanette Stamps, a ferociously stubborn woman battling for her own dreams to be realized; his stepfather, Ben Stamps, the would-be savior, who becomes the sparring partner to them both; and the enigmatic Ray Anthony Robinson, the neighborhood “hoodlum” in purple polyester pants, who sets young Louis’s heart spinning with the first stirrings of sexual longing.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBil Wright deftly evokes an unrelenting world with quirky humor and a clear-eyed perspective in this “deeply felt coming-of-age novel” that “reads like the best of memoirs” (\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\"Heartbreaking and heartwarming. I was touched in so many ways by this absolutely dazzling and elegant debut. You won't be able to put it down. \"\u003cbr\u003e\"The patient, subtle rendering of one boy's developing emotional life leads us right into the mystery of how love grows in us all.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"With striking immediacy, keen insight, and grace of language, Wright captures the anguish of adolescence and the complex bond between mothers and sons...riveting.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"Understated humor marks Bil Wright's first novel, \u003ci\u003eSunday You Learn How to Box...\u003c\/i\u003e the absence of sentimentality is refreshing.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"A realistic, poignant story. It grabs you from the beginning, digs at your heartstrings, and doesn't let go.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Sunday You Learn How to Box\u003c\/i\u003e has all the rhythm, drama, and dance of a good fight but in this case the battle matters more because the soul of a boy is at stake. In elegant and agile prose, Wright matches brutality with passion and heartbreak with hope. And a man in purple polyester pants walks off with the prize. This book is a knockout.\"\u003cbr\u003e\"A mother's uphill battle to forge a better life for her family, her young son's struggle to survive in a world where the lines of \"manhood\" and \"masculinity\" are harshly drawn -- Bil Wright's wrenching novel about growing up gay is sometimes crushing, sometimes exhilarating, but always full of grace. In this elegant and honest book, Wright engages difficult themes of love exhausted and renewed, dreams derailed and put back on track again, and the stubborn will to create one's destiny instead of falling prey to it. I was powerfully moved by \u003ci\u003eSunday You Learn How to Box.\u003c\/i\u003e Its images singe. Its characters gleam.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Sunday You Learn How to Box\u003c\/i\u003e is smart and sexy. Bil Wright's gorgeous first novel overflows with wit and lyricism, the wonders of desire, and the brutality of racism. Louis shows us the power of salvation when the savior and saved are one -- I couldn't put it down!\"\u003cbr\u003e“Louis is a winning character, an adolescent coping gracefully with his bitter lot, whose emotional strength and resilience ensure his survival into adulthood.”\u003cbr\u003e“A poignant coming-of-age story. Wright has written an unsentimental portrait of a vulnerable young black man.”\u003cbr\u003e“This deeply felt coming-of-age novel reads like the best of memoirs. …. Wright has a pitch-perfect ear for dialogue and a genuine gift for capturing the intricacies and indeterminacies of family and community life. Both ensure that Louis Bowman will live with teen readers long after they close the book.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781442474727\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster Books for Young Readers","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40590912913614,"sku":"9781442474727","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_e9daf8e5-6c9d-4cfa-8b59-04411736759c.jpg?v=1637744998","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781442474727","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}