Scan barcode
directorpurry's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Homophobia and Toxic relationship
lazygal's review against another edition
3.0
These three stories tell the story of Cameron Wolfe, youngest child in the Wolfe family. His father is a plumber, Mrs. Wolfe works cleaning at a hospital, oldest brother Steve plays football (Aussie rules), sister Sarah has several serious boyfriends and then there's Ruben, Cam's best (and only) friend.
Throughout the stories we see Cam as the underdog: friendless except for his brother Cam (and somewhat despised by his older brother Steve), unnoticed by girls, scared to fight, and not particularly good at anything. Yet we also see him slowly grow, getting the girl and gaining his family's respect.
This will hold a lot of appeal for the 13+ boys searching for a book that speaks to the family loser (whether or not they are one themselves).
ARC provided by publisher.
Throughout the stories we see Cam as the underdog: friendless except for his brother Cam (and somewhat despised by his older brother Steve), unnoticed by girls, scared to fight, and not particularly good at anything. Yet we also see him slowly grow, getting the girl and gaining his family's respect.
This will hold a lot of appeal for the 13+ boys searching for a book that speaks to the family loser (whether or not they are one themselves).
ARC provided by publisher.
sheilabookworm3369's review against another edition
4.0
About 20 things on the to-do list didn't get done today because of this book, and I'm not sorry. The 2nd novel, "Fighting..." brought tears to my eyes (the good kind). And the rest was awesome. Highly recommend!
marryallthepeople's review against another edition
1.0
I feel like I'm a literary failure after breezing through this book, weaving it between other books, as I didn't really take anything away from it. Did I miss something large or was I just not feeling it?
suey's review against another edition
5.0
I'm so glad I decided to re-read the second two books of this compilation! I totally didn't appreciate them fully the first time around. Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are a fascinating pair. I love what these books have to say about the strength of the brother relationship. It warms your heart, truly.
imjohannagrace's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of these stories. I'm a sucker for family relationships and most specifically, brother relationships and this did not disappoint. It was great watching Zusak discover the voice we know so well today and these are character I think I'll always remember.
veritas19's review against another edition
2.0
I wasn't too impressed to be completely honest. I got really bored during most of it. I really liked the boxing matches which I found interesting. I liked the poems and words that Cameron wrote but I feel the story was lacking at times. I wasn't a huge fan of Underdogs but Fighting Ruben Wolfe was a big improvement. Getting the Girl took a step back and definitely was as good as Fighting Ruben Wolfe. I have read all of his books now and I definitely have to say that he gets better with time. The best of his books were I Am the Messenger and The Book Thief. His first three books were ok. If you like a lot of story telling from one persons perspective and a lot of poetic prose, then this is a book for you. If you are looking for something with a little more umph then I would avoid this trilogy.
niki7x24's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent! Has a poetic rhythm to it, but my favorite part of the book was the real look at the relationship between two brothers.Definitely would recommend!
bethanymiller415's review against another edition
3.0
Underdogs includes Zusak’s first three novels: The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, and Getting the Girl. Cameron Wolfe is the main character and narrator of all three. The Underdog introduces Cam and the Wolfe family: Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe – Cam’s overworked parents, Ruben – Cam’s brother and best friend, Steve – his successful older brother who considers Cam and Ruben losers and Sarah – his loving but flighty older sister. Cam is the perpetual underdog especially when it comes to girls. He meets a girl while working on her house with his father, but when he finally gets the courage to ask her out, she rejects him. In Fighting Ruben Wolfe, Rube’s reputation as a fighter lands him and Cam in an illegal boxing operation. Ruben – known as Fighting Ruben Wolfe - is a great success. Cam – known as The Underdog – is less successful but becomes known for getting back up off of the mat when he is knocked down. Once again Cam meets a girl, but she rejects him. The novel reaches its climax when the two brothers are forced to fight each other. In Getting the Girl, Rube has grown into a ladies’ man and has a constant stream of girlfriends. Cam is still a loner, spending his evenings standing outside the house of the girl who rejected him in Fighting Ruben Wolfe. He finally meets a girl who is interested in him, but Octavia happens to be one of Rube’s ex-girlfriends. When Cam finally tells Rube that he has been seeing her, Rube loses his temper and beats Cam up. Octavia breaks it off with Cam after seeing his bruised face because she does not want to come between the two brothers. Will Cam and Rube find a way to reconcile? Will Cam ever get a girl?
Zusak became famous for The Book Thief, and in these first three novels, you can see the promise that came to fruition in I am the Messenger and The Book Thief. Cam is a likable character whose journey of self-discovery from loser to fighter is satisfyingly resolved in the final book. Cam’s siblings, particularly Ruben, are well drawn characters that give a feeling of authenticity to Cam’s home life. Another minor but important character is Miffy – the neighbor’s Pomeranian – who is a great source of much-needed comic relief throughout the three novels. There’s not a lot of action here; the focus is on Cam’s journey to understanding himself and his eventual realization that being an underdog means being a fighter. Teens will relate to Cam’s feeling of insecurity and inferiority, but because of the focus on character and slow moving plot, this trilogy won’t be for everyone.
Zusak became famous for The Book Thief, and in these first three novels, you can see the promise that came to fruition in I am the Messenger and The Book Thief. Cam is a likable character whose journey of self-discovery from loser to fighter is satisfyingly resolved in the final book. Cam’s siblings, particularly Ruben, are well drawn characters that give a feeling of authenticity to Cam’s home life. Another minor but important character is Miffy – the neighbor’s Pomeranian – who is a great source of much-needed comic relief throughout the three novels. There’s not a lot of action here; the focus is on Cam’s journey to understanding himself and his eventual realization that being an underdog means being a fighter. Teens will relate to Cam’s feeling of insecurity and inferiority, but because of the focus on character and slow moving plot, this trilogy won’t be for everyone.
onemanbookclub's review against another edition
4.0
Markus Zusak has earned a place at the top of my list of favorite authors. If you haven't read The Book Thief, do. Read my review of it first though--I think you should know some things before you start. Read I am the Messenger too.
Once you've read those, you're going to want more Markus Zusak--at least I did. Luckily I discovered Underdogs. It is a compilation of the first three books Zusak published. Originally published in his native Australia, they have only recently become available to readers in the U.S. They feel very "Australian," with lots of slang and sentence structure that was strange to my American mind but understandable within context and actually really fun to experience. The three books follow a few months in the ordinary life (a Zusak theme) of Cameron Wolfe, a very self-introspective, ponderous, but in most ways normal, 15-year-old boy. The plots are very simple and center around Cameron, his older brother Ruben, and their exploits involving the rest of the Wolfe family.
I enjoyed Underdogs. It is not on the same level as TBT or IATM, but still very well written and classic Zusak style.
With a lot of short sentences.
That are used.
Effectively.
Another classic Zusak element is his emphasis on the strength of words, and his unique and powerful words are on display here--albeit in a way that shows how far he's come in penning the amazing words of The Book Thief.
Here's one of my favorite passages. Cameron dreams . . .
"There's a big crowd, around a fight, and they are all yelling and howling and screaming, as though punches are landing and fists are molding faces. It's a huge crowd, about eight deep, so it is very difficult to push my way through.
I get down on my knees.
I crawl.
I look for gaps and then slip through them, until, eventually, I'm there. I'm at the front of the crowd, which is a giant circle, thick.
'Go!' the guy next to me yells. 'Go hard!' Still, I look at the crowd. I don't watch the fight. Not yet.
There are all kinds of people amongst this crowd. Skinny. Fat. Black. White. Yellow. They all look on and scream into the middle of the ring.
The guy next to me is always shrieking in my ear, drilling right through my skull to my brain. I feel his voice in my lungs. That's how loud he is. Nothing stops him, even the ones behind who throw words at him to make him shut up. It is no use.
I try stopping him myself, by asking him something--a shout over the rest of the crowd. 'Who y' going for?' I ask.
He stops his noise. Immediately. He stares.
At the fight. Then at me.
A few more seconds pass and he says, 'I'm goin' for the underdog . . . I have to.' He laughs a little, sympathetically. 'Gotta go for the underdog.'
It is then that I look at the fight, for the first time.
'Hey.'
Something is strange.
'Hey,' I ask the guy again, because there is only one fighter inside the huge, loud, throbbing circle. A boy. He is throwing punches wildly and moving around and blocking and swinging his arms at nothing. 'Hey, how come there's only the one fella fighting?' It is the guy next to me again that I have asked.
He doesn't look at me this time, no. He keeps focused on the boy in the circle, who fights on so intensely that no one can take their eyes off him.
The guy speaks to me.
An answer.
He says, "He's fighting the world.' And now, I watch as the underdog in the middle of the circle fights on and stands and falls and returns to his haunches and feet and fights on again. He fights on, no matter how hard he hits the ground. He gets up. Some people cheer him. Others laugh now and rubbish him.
Feeling comes out of me.
I watch.
My eyes swell, and burn. 'Can he win?'
I ask it, and now, I too cannot take my eyes off the boy in the circle."
Pretty cool, right?
As you might imagine, getting into the authentic mind of a 15-year-old boy the topics get a little . . .ummmm. . . I’ll say "girl-centric." There were a couple of moments when I was afraid Cameron's thoughts would go too far and I would have to put the book down before it crossed my boundary of appropriateness. Luckily, Cameron is a really good guy and his thoughts never got that far. I actually found Cameron to be a little too deeply introspective at times. I even felt a bit that Cameron was a weird-o because I don't know any 15 year olds who really think as deeply as he does. Other times, though, I really felt like Cameron was right on, and I remember feeling the same way. Maybe I was a weird-o. Hmmmm. . . .
Underdogs was a pretty great read, and I recommend it to all mature readers with the same enthusiastic plug I gave for The Book Thief and I am the Messenger. Be on the lookout for the publication date for Bridge of Clay, Markus Zusak's next project!
Once you've read those, you're going to want more Markus Zusak--at least I did. Luckily I discovered Underdogs. It is a compilation of the first three books Zusak published. Originally published in his native Australia, they have only recently become available to readers in the U.S. They feel very "Australian," with lots of slang and sentence structure that was strange to my American mind but understandable within context and actually really fun to experience. The three books follow a few months in the ordinary life (a Zusak theme) of Cameron Wolfe, a very self-introspective, ponderous, but in most ways normal, 15-year-old boy. The plots are very simple and center around Cameron, his older brother Ruben, and their exploits involving the rest of the Wolfe family.
I enjoyed Underdogs. It is not on the same level as TBT or IATM, but still very well written and classic Zusak style.
With a lot of short sentences.
That are used.
Effectively.
Another classic Zusak element is his emphasis on the strength of words, and his unique and powerful words are on display here--albeit in a way that shows how far he's come in penning the amazing words of The Book Thief.
Here's one of my favorite passages. Cameron dreams . . .
"There's a big crowd, around a fight, and they are all yelling and howling and screaming, as though punches are landing and fists are molding faces. It's a huge crowd, about eight deep, so it is very difficult to push my way through.
I get down on my knees.
I crawl.
I look for gaps and then slip through them, until, eventually, I'm there. I'm at the front of the crowd, which is a giant circle, thick.
'Go!' the guy next to me yells. 'Go hard!' Still, I look at the crowd. I don't watch the fight. Not yet.
There are all kinds of people amongst this crowd. Skinny. Fat. Black. White. Yellow. They all look on and scream into the middle of the ring.
The guy next to me is always shrieking in my ear, drilling right through my skull to my brain. I feel his voice in my lungs. That's how loud he is. Nothing stops him, even the ones behind who throw words at him to make him shut up. It is no use.
I try stopping him myself, by asking him something--a shout over the rest of the crowd. 'Who y' going for?' I ask.
He stops his noise. Immediately. He stares.
At the fight. Then at me.
A few more seconds pass and he says, 'I'm goin' for the underdog . . . I have to.' He laughs a little, sympathetically. 'Gotta go for the underdog.'
It is then that I look at the fight, for the first time.
'Hey.'
Something is strange.
'Hey,' I ask the guy again, because there is only one fighter inside the huge, loud, throbbing circle. A boy. He is throwing punches wildly and moving around and blocking and swinging his arms at nothing. 'Hey, how come there's only the one fella fighting?' It is the guy next to me again that I have asked.
He doesn't look at me this time, no. He keeps focused on the boy in the circle, who fights on so intensely that no one can take their eyes off him.
The guy speaks to me.
An answer.
He says, "He's fighting the world.' And now, I watch as the underdog in the middle of the circle fights on and stands and falls and returns to his haunches and feet and fights on again. He fights on, no matter how hard he hits the ground. He gets up. Some people cheer him. Others laugh now and rubbish him.
Feeling comes out of me.
I watch.
My eyes swell, and burn. 'Can he win?'
I ask it, and now, I too cannot take my eyes off the boy in the circle."
Pretty cool, right?
As you might imagine, getting into the authentic mind of a 15-year-old boy the topics get a little . . .ummmm. . . I’ll say "girl-centric." There were a couple of moments when I was afraid Cameron's thoughts would go too far and I would have to put the book down before it crossed my boundary of appropriateness. Luckily, Cameron is a really good guy and his thoughts never got that far. I actually found Cameron to be a little too deeply introspective at times. I even felt a bit that Cameron was a weird-o because I don't know any 15 year olds who really think as deeply as he does. Other times, though, I really felt like Cameron was right on, and I remember feeling the same way. Maybe I was a weird-o. Hmmmm. . . .
Underdogs was a pretty great read, and I recommend it to all mature readers with the same enthusiastic plug I gave for The Book Thief and I am the Messenger. Be on the lookout for the publication date for Bridge of Clay, Markus Zusak's next project!