Why I Fight (Richard Jackson Books

by J. Adams Oaks

Wyatt Reaves takes the seat next to you, bloodied and soaking wet, and he is a big-fisted beast. Tell him to stretch out like an X across asphalt and you've got a parking space. But Wyatt's been taking it lying down for too long, and he is NOT happy.

Since he turned twelve and a half, he's been living with his uncle, a traveling salesman of mysterious agenda and questionable intent. Soon, Uncle Spade sees the potential in "kiddo" to earn cash. And that's enough to keep the boy around for nearly six years.

But what life does Wyatt deserve? Alcohol? Drugs? Bare-fisted fights? Tattoos? No friends? No role models? Living in a car?
If you're brave enough to stay and listen, you'll hear an astounding story. It's not a pretty road Wyatt has traveled, but growing up rarely is.

Genres: Young Adult, Sports, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Family, Coming Of Age, Teen

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great cover! However,at times sketchy character development and story line. You kept waiting for something to happen or for a twisit in the story but nothing came. At times it felt like every other chapter was interesting and pulled you in but as soon as the next chapter started the interest was lost. I did like the sense of voice given to the main characer, Wyatt.

[Jack Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the book Why I Fight by J. Adams Oaks. I would not recommend this book to a friend because it was poorly written and the author did not keep me entertained. The author used a lot of run on sentences, sentences that didn’t make sense, and sentences that really lost my focus. One strong piece of evidence to support my reason is on page (143) and (144) when the main characters Wyatt and his uncle Spade are on the road. The author writes, “Grass and grass and trees and signs and cars and trucks and barns and fields and forests and mountains and valleys and rivers and towns and factories and bridges and cats and crows and cows and crossroads and roads crossing tracks.” As you can see, that piece from the book is just one gigantic run on sentence. There were a lot of times when the author did this in this novel and sometimes it even made me tired reading it. Reading different words one after another for half a page really lost my focus. Overall, I would not recommend this book to a friend. The author definitely didn’t keep me hooked, and it was simply boring to read.
Another reason I would not recommend this book is because the author did not use good imagery, and I could not put a picture in my head of the settings. A strong piece of evidence to support this reason is on page (8) when Wyatt and Spade are pulling into Nanas house for the first time. The author writes, “When I woke up, we were pulling down a long driveway” The author does not give a lot of details at all. He just explains the driveway with one word, “long”. The author could have given details about the landscape, house, etc. The author lacks details throughout the whole story and it makes the story much less interesting.
My last reason for not recommending this book is because the fighting did not start until around 100 pages. A strong piece of evidence from the text to support my reason is on page (86) when Wyatt enters a pig catching contest. The author writes, “You really got a fist on you kiddo. I had no idea.” This piece of text is uncle spade talking to Wyatt. The main point of the book is fighting. As it says on the summary on the back of the book and is well shown on the cover. When I read 86 pages until reading something kind of about fighting, I was disappointed. I can see why some people might say that they like when the author gives a lot of background knowledge, and they really liked that about this book. But from my perspective, the author gave a bit too much information. When I picked this book, I picked it because it was about fighting and I do wrestling, so I thought it would be a good book for me. As I was reading page after page until page 86, I was already disliking the book more and more. Overall I would not recommend this book to a friend. It was poorly written and did not keep me entertained.

[Uvas · Rating 4 out of 5]

i chose this book because i like the title of it. i thought it would have drugs or something like that but it didn't. instead it was better it was how he stood up for himslef and how he wanted to be happy. this book is a realistic fiction book. in this book theres really no place and where the setting takes place they charecters just travel from place to place for fights.The main charecter is about 14 years old he is tall for his age so in appreance he looks like a 18 year old. He's built know how to fight and is a nice careing person he isn't rude at all. in this story he's a little kid but burns down his home so his incle spade takes care of him. his uncle sees he's got talent and wants to pretend he's 18 in order to make him fight but wyyat doesn't mind of anything he thinks it could be fun. so he takes on older guys but the guys think they can take him so he beats every one he fights. escept this one guy he is faster stronger and better then wyatt. so he looses and he gets hurt rlly bad and decides he wants to stop fighting. so he wants to go home nad try to find his parents but they really don't pay much attenton to him until his father knows he's a good fighter he wants to spend time with him. my opinion in this book isthat its a good book but i think it could of been a little bit more intresting.

[Dean]

The book was very interesting and action packed with family drama and fighting, i recommend this book to people who like family drama and fighting conflicts. Overall, it was a very good book.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would recommend Why I Fight by J. Adam Oaks because I can relate to the 13 year old main character Wyatt Reaves, and how the author uses unique words that are rare in most stories. Wyatt Reaves is twelve and a half years old. He goes to school, does his homework, feeds himself, and is his own parent because his parents need to have 3-5 jobs each to keep the house. When Wyatt’s house burnt down, his Uncle takes him around the country selling stuff from Shirts to illegal Chinese fireworks. Eventually, Wyatt is seen punching something and his Uncle sees a potential fighter I him and trains him for the next year. I see why some people might object to this kind of behavior by a 13-year-old, but this is the same exact reason why I like the book. It’s different. I liked the book because throughout it I saw evidence of imagery, relatability, and unique word choice. For example, Wyatt is with his Uncle traveling around the country, but he falls a sleep and has a very strange dream that he is in his burnt down house, and everything is in water. Furniture is floating everywhere, when,” This puny fish with copper scales flashes out of the water. My skin pricks cold. Another fish leaps up high showing Swiss Army-Knife teeth that tear through the microwave like vanilla ice cream.”(Pg. 62) After saying this Wyatt goes on to explain what it feels like to be eaten by the piranhas. I can see why people wouldn’t want their kids to know what it’s like to be eaten by piranhas, but if you look at it you realize that it is a great example of imagery in this book. I like how Oaks uses a specific example of something sharp, instead of just saying “with very sharp teeth” he said “with Swiss Army-Knife teeth.” Another example is, when Wyatt was traveling with his uncle, the first stop he made was too his (crazy) grandmother’s house. She collected color broken glass and Wyatt took a piece as he left. “And I look through it sometimes. Makes the world look different.” (Pg. 48) I know that some people might not like their children to put glass up to their face, but if you look at it my way, you will see that the deeper meaning is that the world looks different through someone else’s eyes. It reminds about how if a huge event goes terribly wrong or amazingly right in your life it makes you see the world as a different place. This is when Wyatt starts to fight. Wyatt is fighting for money at any place you could think of (bars, restaurants, alleys, etc.), and also wins every single match. “I ate I slept. I beat guys in one punch, bandaged my own hands, then took the money and left.” (Pg. 128) At one glance you would think that this would be a very bad thing for a 16 year old to be doing at all, but if one were to look hard enough he/she would find something, something called feelings. Wyatt feels like his life is very bland, but if you look at it. It really isn’t. I mean one doesn’t normally fight people around the country at 13 or have an uncle that goes around selling stuff so random it still amazes him! Wyatt has the life that we may all want as 13 year olds. Even though, Wyatt maybe a messed up, fighting, always angry, bad role-model of a kid and the use of proper grammar throughout the story is lacking, I like it. I like it because all of this provided to the story. The grammar described the character of Wyatt very well. I would recommend Why I Fight by J. Adam Oaks because I can relate to the main character Wyatt Reaves, and how the use of words are specifically unique to this story.

[Ashley P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, so let me just start by saying that I LOVED this book. As in I wanted it to keep going and never end. As you can see by my profile, I rate every book I read but have only left a handful of reviews. That's because not every book I read hits me in the gut like this one did. And I really don't know why that is. The plot really isn't anything that I haven't read before. Mistreated, misunderstood youth sets out to discover himself isn't a new plot. But for some reason, this one just spoke to me.

I only checked it out from the library because of the title and cover picture. I really wasn't expecting to much from it since I don't normally read YA set from a male point of view. I don't find it very believable and try to avoid it. But I love books centered on fighting so I gave it a shot. And then promptly kept reading it until I had it finished. I loved Wyatt's POV, I loved his spirit, I loved his generosity. My favorite scene was one that had him in an alley with a boy that wanted to get a head start on that night's fight. Wyatt refused to fight him and instead put him in a headlock and tried to calm him down. When that didn't work he just gave up and let him attack him. I don't know why, but that scene just stuck with me even after the book was finished. I also really responded to when Wyatt waited outside all day just to confront his childhood best friend, Clark. He was just so angry and hurt and heartbreakingly naive on what the world was really like that it tore my heart up. It was so beautifully written and you could feel his emotions coming across the pages.

If I had to choose something about the book that I didn't like it would be the lack of quotation marks. I get that a lot of authors today are trying to be all artsy and poetic in the way they write, I get that all of you want to stand out! Some write their words in verse, some skip quotation marks completely. Oaks just put dashes where the characters were talking and it was a little confusing. Sometimes thoughts and words ran together which I understand that was probably what he was going for. This whole book was written kinda like Wyatt was standing in front of you and telling you face to face. So the run on paragraphs made sense, it's just a personal irk of mine with quotation marks. Nothing against the author at all.

But that said, I really wouldn't change a thing about this book. If I ever go shopping in an actual bookstore (which never happens since I am a library fiend), I would for sure spend the money on this book just because it resonated with me so much. I will for sure pick up more from this author when he publishes something else.

[Michelle Sánchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book just broke my heart. From the time that Wyatt takes up with his uncle, he never even goes to school. Knowing that school provides some stability to kids living in such horrid situations, it’s so sad that Wyatt doesn’t even know that measure of comfort. The ending didn’t give me much hope for Wyatt either. I was thoroughly depressed at the end of this book. I only saw him perpetuating the same cycle of irresponsibility and a life of crime he was brought up in. He encounters no mentor or hope in this novel. The only ray of light is that he has the sense to get away from his low-life parents and uncle in the end. Now what? He’s uneducated and has nobody to lean on. The reader roots for Wyatt to get himself on the right path, but there’s just nobody for him to turn to within his family, and he’s too jaded to seek out the help of professionals.

I think that the lack of a neatly drawn happy ending in this book might be difficult for some middle school readers. Definitely, many readers will identify with Wyatt and his feelings of neglect and isolation, though his case is likely more severe than the average middle schooler. Mature reluctant readers will appreciate the author's choice of using the first person to tell the story. The realistic language and descriptions provided by Wyatt's voice bring authenticity and grit to the novel. I think most students that can handle A Child Called It could also handle this book, though the ending isn’t as hopeful as the Pelzer’s biography, in my opinion.

[Carter Kelso · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character,Wyatt is a strong young kid that while reading this makes you want for him to be a real person. Wyatt hasn't seen his parents since he was twelve and he is living with his uncle Spade. They are always moving around the country and Wyatt never really gets to have a designated home. He and his uncle are always on the move selling random items just to get by. One day, uncle Spade spots Wyatt throwing a powerful punch because Wyatt is mad. He realizes that, that very punch could make them money from Wyatt becoming an underground fighter. He soon comes to believe that his uncle is just using him for his reward money for when he wins a match, and after in the story decides to go home. He's a survivor and a hero in my eyes, high school kids would relate to him even if their lives are very different. The theme of the story is to never give up regardless of your situation. The author demonstrated this by showing that when Wyatt is down he always keeps his head up and stays strong. It is a good book for recreational readers since the language is simple and straight forward. This is the only book I have picked up and did not put down until I finished it. It is hard to find a book like this that really grabs your interest and doesn't let it go. One of the reasons I really enjoyed this book is because of the character Wyatt's willingness to work hard with limited resources. By Carter kelso

[01rancev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was pretty good. What struck me the best about this book was the way the main character thought and did things. He didn't do things the way that other people would. What struck me the worst was the way the character's uncle was coming off. His attitude and the way he just used his own nephew like that made me mad, but that's also what kept me readng it. I wanted to see what Wyatt was going to do. If I could find more books by the same author and that had the same type of action in it, I would definately read them. I like books that have action in them with a little bit of mystery. This story made me mad at times, happy at times, and even sad times. One thing that made me mad was how his uncle used him for money. He used his own nephew. Just doesn't seem right. One thing that made me happy was that he was always the underdog in evey fight he was in. Even being the underdog, he was still able to pull it out in the end. Something that made me sad was that his parents just shunned him. Treated him like he was nothing to them. Didn't say one thing to him when they saw one another. One lesson that I learned from this book that you never back down from anything that you do. No matter who tells you to stop or back down, you never back down.

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was entertaining and gave an overview of how the main character, Wyatt Reaves, goes through life at the age of twelve and a half. This book not only gives the struggles of a boy that doesn't know who he is, what he wants, where he wants to be... but gives a greater theme to the reader that no matter how hard life may be, never give up in life. There is more to this book than just what the author has written. Focusing on the hints and details that the author conveys throughout the story and applying it to our own individuality, greatly gives a life lesson, to keep searching for who we are and want to become in life. At the end of this book Wyatt chooses to leave after having a physical dispute with his father. Not the best way to end the book, but it proves that no person finds who they are within a certain time limit or place they are in. Therefore, people choose to leave or change something to find who they are. In all this book was a great and amazing book to have read. Would greatly recommend to those who want to read a book that has a life lesson wrapped within the text.

[Jody Bachelder · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you've ever met an angry young man who is more likely to resort to fists than words, this book may provide one explanation for that type of behavior. Wyatt Reaves jumps at the chance to hit the road with his wandering (and part-time criminal) uncle and leave his parents behind, who don't care about him anyway. He's 12 1/2. So begins his life as a nomad, the end of his schooling, and the beginning of his life as a bare-fisted fighter. It becomes apparent that he only has value in his uncle's eyes when he can make money by fighting. It's a sad commentary that most of the adults in this book are drunks who are willing to exploit a child. This book is pretty bleak from beginning to end and though Wyatt is able to maintain his humanity in the face of tough circumstances, the ending leaves him without a lot of hope for the future. Teens who love a gritty read may like it, but with slow pacing and not much action it will be a tough sell to reluctant boys, its target audience.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an author to look out for! Wow--what a powerful story!

Even though Wyatt doesn't run away in the traditional sense, he is taken by his Uncle from his parent's home, I was reminded of him by this video in the NYT today because wyatt's parent's don't look for him. Copy and paste the link into your browser. For those of us who work with teens, this is worth watching!

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/1...

[Cole Corkery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose to read this book because I wanted to find a book that had some action in it. I didn't expect it to be this good. This book involves many hardships that happen to a 13 year old boy who ran away from home and lives with his uncle who is always on the move.

[Andrew Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

During Quarter 2 I read the book Why I Fight, by J. Adams Oaks. Again this is a completely new author to me. J. Adams Oaks is a very secretive author. He is not very well known and chooses to be more concealed. He is known for this book and this is the only book I have read of his. This book is about a very early developed 14 year-old boy named Wyatt Reaves. Wyatt and his family are all from the country but have been split up and spends all his time with his unlawful uncle Spade. Wyatt is forced into being a fighter because of his power plus size and lies about his age so Spade can make dirty money. Last is the lexile level. This book’s lexile is 770, a simple book to read and it can be well understood. It isn’t too long or too short either, with a total of 228 pages. This is a good book for people who like action, surprises and more.
I believe that the central idea of Why I fight was for Wyatt’s sly uncle able to make a lot of quick and easy cash. He does this by overworking and exposing Wyatt to drugs, alcohol, women, betting and more. I also believe that this book’s other purpose is to teach certain life lessons to the reader/audience. There are many of learning points in this book and it actually taught me a lot. Although, that is my opinion, there is very well people who disagree. Some may think that this doesn’t teach or have a message. I do believe it does, I think this is a great book for learning moments. The central idea or the learning points unfold all over the book. More do happen towards the end and this book did start out very slow. There are many different types of learning moments in this book, it can be a happy and positive learning moment such as (page 27), “Fishing ain’t work. It’s relaxation. It’s sport. We don’t got to fish for food. I nodded and tried to smile.” this represents spending time with family. Maybe not through just fishing but really in any way. It is always a great thing to spend time with your family, it’s valuable. Then there are negative learning points too. There were more negative than positive in this book, although, they still made good essential points. Things in this book include, bare fist-fighting, cheating, betting, over drinking alcohol and more. This book moved on very slow in many parts of the book and especially at the beginning. I also think that there could be more added to this book keeping the central idea of this uncle. Lastly the ending, I did like the ending but I did feel like it ended very vague. I know that some books do this on purpose and I can infer that this particular book did as well but if there is no sequel it needs to be ended in a better way. Instead of the book saying he walked off thinking he was and adult, (Wyatt), there could be so many more things happen that could further intrigue the audience and cause even more suspense.
In conclusion I though Why I Fight by J. Adams Oaks was alright. This definitely was not the best book I have ever read and not the worst either. There could be improvements and changes to this book but I really did enjoy some parts too. This book is a good fit for a 5th-8th grade level but was very simple for me, it was easy to read. I chose this book because I have always been interested in MMA and fighting, like boxing as well and thought this would be a good choice, I was not really disappointed and not thrilled. This was not a predictable book whatsoever and found that to help with it. The way characters reacted to everything was kind of a surprise, I felt this was a good choice by the author. His style of writing is good but I can see improvements, he knows the right things and puts them into writing. I did not make many connections to my own life because I have not experienced any type of this. I did however connect it to other people and things I have heard and seen. This had a lot of impact on me as well as teaching me more important points as I have mentioned before. J. Adams Oaks I feel is a good writer, he took his time with this work and is known for this piece mostly. This book is not for everyone but if you are interested in action and a wild ride this book is definitely for you.

[Derrick Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author, F Adam Okas

Title why i fight

The main character's name is wyatt, The setting is about this kid who grew up ink a bad part of a city and would always get into trouble cause he would fight kids and had never lost a fight ,how i found the book,i just picked it up and thought it would be good and it wasn't a bad book it just felt really repetitive and didnt feel like it was really going anywhere.


The main character’s name is Wyatt and he is always getting into fights and trouble and doesn't really care and his parents don't really care.Then one night he got into a fight with his dad and got the cops called on him and was sent to go live with his uncle. His uncle saw potential in him for a fighting career and made him run and get into really good shape and let him fight in competitions.They were starting to make some good money but then he lost a match and gave up on the whole boxing thing and wanted to go to school. But his uncle said that it was useless and he didn't need to go to school.And after that his uncle didn't really care for Wyatt anymore and gave up on him and that's really where the story ends.But when the story hit the end it felt like it was just a repeat of what happened at the begging of the story.


My favorite part in the book was when he wanted to help him with the fighting thing and wanted to be there for him and take him away from the bad living he was used to. Like when his uncle made him go for runs so he could get extra work or take him to farms and work all day and when his uncle actually showed care for him.Helped him in fights so he could win and start making a name for himself and put himself out there.But like towards the end of the book he slowly lost care for wyatt.



I think the book was okay but it felt really repetitive and got pretty boring towards the end. Because it was like Wyatt moved in with his uncle and didn't talk to his parents. then started to fight in comps and then started getting really good then lost a fight and gave up on the whole then went back to his parents house and stayed there. So i think it was good but a bit repetitive and honestly you have to read it to know if you like it or not.

[Vincent Stingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: I am writing this review for a Young Adult Literature course project.

Oak's novel Why I Fight does a great job of depicting a young boy who fell through the cracks. The language and content of the novel is definitely shocking, however, I think it is important to have these qualities in YA literature. Any literature that is given to young adults should challenge them not just academically but also emotionally, and have something to which they can possibly relate. This novel, like many others that are typically neglected in the classroom, contains a gritty story that is close to reality for a lot of students. I think it is important to not sensor these stories because it makes too many young people feel that their lives will be silenced if they have rough stories such as Wyatt's. This book brilliantly captures the emotional struggle of a young boy's coming of age through the physical struggle of bare-knuckle fights that he does for money. It doesn't depict a typical, financially well-off kid with supportive parents, which we know is, for many districts, far from the actual norm.
I would absolutely recommend this book be taught to an older audience due to its more violent aspects, and to ensure critical thought be used while reading a book that doesn't have grammatically correct Standard English at all times. I think it is wise to teach a unit on the importance and function of word choice, and that the language one uses may change depending on the audience, purpose and setting of any literary work.
Lastly, I think this would be an interesting novel for students because of its unique story and interesting plot. I also think it is easy and interesting enough to have students eager to turn the page. It is important to have novels that do this throughout the year to not make it easy for students to skip out on reading and fall behind.

[Monica Caldicott]

Read p. 1: "Don't call me kiddo ... You're coming with me." (note a few skips)

When Wyatt leaves with Uncle Spade, he doesn't look back. He doesn't ask to call his parents, and they don't try to find him. He and Uncle Spade bounce from the home of one ladyfriend to another, selling any cheap junk's worth of a deal that Uncle Spade finds along the way. No more school, but also no more loneliness. 

Wyatt is big for his age, let's just put it that way. He learns that he's a good fighter when he enters himself in a kids' contest at a county fair. The old lady taking sign-ups didn't believe that he fit the 14-and-under rule. After watching all of the littler kids racing around after this squealing, squirming pig, Wyatt has had anough. The next time the pig makes a turn towards him, he makes a fist and punches the pig. After that, it was the easiest 50 bucks Wyatt had ever had; just pick up the limp pig and hold him up for the required 10 seconds.

Uncle Spade turns Wyatt's large size and fighting instincts into a small side business, arranging bare-fisted fights outside bars and in back alleys.

The title promises an answer to the question, "Why I fight." Read about Wyatt and his life to learn the answer for yourself.

[Joao Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off very slow and boring, but the more you keep reading the more you want to read about the life of a 12-year-old boy called Wyatt. Even though the book is very slow in telling the story of Wyatt starting to fight it is still very interesting to read the beginning to understand Wyatt's life and his relationship with his uncle Spade that travels all over. Once you are done with all that touchy family crap you start getting into the good part of the story, and you start to get even more attached to the book and Wyatt. You see why Spade takes advantage of Wyatt since he is too big for his age, and you get attached to all that drama between Wyatt and the only family he has around who is his Uncle. Even though it was very boring in the beginning the author J. Adams Oaks who wrote this book was able to make you keep reading until you begin the action in the book, and by the time you finish blinking you are done. This book is great for people of any age, but I gave it a 4 star because the beginning is very boring, but if you like drama and relationships, and fighting then this is the book for you to read.

[Arturo Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my humble opinion, this book is quality and should receive 4 out of 5 stars. My three main reasons for this rating is because it Motivates you to go beyond your goals , breathtaking and majestic.

If I were to rate just the first ⅓ of the book, I would give that part a 4 out of 5 stars mostly because it's interesting and makes you want to read more. The characters are Wyatt Reaves, Uncle Spade, and Clark the author makes them come to life by the way he describes them and how they have some positive and negative events happening to them like all humans. The way the author tells the story was astonishing. The readers are effectively introduced to the real world and how others have different dreams that they want to accomplish. And my favorite part of this section was when Wyatt started to train harder than ever because he wanted to show the people who doubted in him that he can be a top fighter. For the second ⅓ of the book, I would rate it 3.5 out of 5 stars mostly because it wasn't interesting. In this middle section of the book. In conclusion, I would recommend this book for my peers.

[Collin Bise-Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why I Fight was a really good book if you like action in your books. The main character Wyatt Reeves goes on an adventure to various many states with his uncle. He doesn’t go to school and wants to always get his uncles approval beforehand. In this book he ends up fighting for money because his uncle wants him too. He loses once and ends up with a lot of money. The action comes into play by him fighting grown men when he is only but 15.

The book was good because you didn’t know what was going to happen next which made you want to keep reading it. You may be able to relate to the book in many ways due to Wyatt growing up throughout the story. The story leaves on a cliffhanger when it ends with him leaving on his own not knowing where to go but then says “I am okay with that”. Which makes me believe there may be another novel on the works or maybe not. In general it was a fun book to read and I suggest this to anybody who likes action novels or a good book all around.

[Zarek Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uncle Spade always called it boxing. All i did was fight. First fight he ever had wit gloves made him a lot of money. He decided to keep training for this and work hard because he was making a lot of money even if he was winning or losing. He was a hard worker used his time wisely and always put a good effort into it. When he went out to the ring he fought his hardest and never gave up. He was dedicated to boxing. He was strong and never put himself down. Whenever he would go down he knew the only other way to go was up and keep moving forward.
The setting was usually in a shelter because that is where he lived but his uncle would always sneak him out to fight.
I recommend people who are into boxing and fighting to read this book. Its not to hard to read its a good book and the vocabulary isn't hard to understand. I would also recommend this book to maybe eight graders and freshmen and sophomores.

[Brent Kawlewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “why I fight” by J. Adams Oaks is a nonfiction novel. The plot of the story is that young Wyatt Reaves is trying to understand all of the conflicts that happen to him and his uncle, while figuring out how to hold back his anger. The setting was wide varied since uncle spaded was always on the road finding his “lady friends” . In the beginning of the story they both stopped at Wyatt grandma's (Nana) house where they stayed only for a week. Some conflicts that happened were mostly revolved around problems that Uncle Spade caused. Usually all of the conflicts ended with fists thrown at each other in anger or disagreement which shows that Wyatt doesn't have self control over his temper.

[Saskia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shortlisted for a literary award, I'm confused by the low rating this book received from some reviewers. Oh well! Their reasons for not liking it seem a bit weird too, so I'm going to go with my feelings on it and say that it is a great story. It is a layered novel that confidently and cohesively builds the story of the protagonist's life between 12.5 and 16 yo. And what a life. 😭 I didn't cry but I am left with a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach and a desire to just hug someone! 4 stars.

[Sharie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent novel. Shows white kid in horrible situation (they don't all have to be black). Perfect reading level/writing style for kid/narrator who doesn't have opportunity to go to school. Hi-Low interest as well.

MC:
homelessness
alcohol (bingeing and underage)
drug dealing/use
sexual situations (uncle's lady friends)
fighting/add'l violence
foul language (almost entirely bleeped until end)
permanent truancy

[Cody Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great cover! However,at times sketchy character development and story line. You kept ting for something to happen or for a twisit in the story but nothing came. At times it fe like every other chapter was interesting and pulled you in but as soon as the next chapter started the interest was lost. I did like the sense of voice given to the main characer, Wyatt.

[Andrew Wilsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was absolutely horrendous. The writing style of the author gave me a headache, the characters were barely interesting or likable. But again, the biggest issue I had was the writing style. It was not good. I can’t even write anything more. Just know this book will give you a headache.

[michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

.5

I thought that this book would be interesting because of the synopsis but it was actually very boring and badly written.

[*Weebles* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I found it at the dollar store and took a chance. I'm so glad I did. It was a great read!

[Elsie Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish it continued. The reading style took a little bit to get used to, but overall the illiteracy helped enhance the character.

[Wick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good. The ending felt very rushed and also I feel like te name of the book doesn’t fit the book very well.