Book series packs a punch

Robert Lipsyte's novels are rich in character and boxing action. His latest, Warrior Angel, is no exception.

From the action in the ring to the sweat on the boxer's brow, Robert Lipsyte's series of books for young adults captures all the drama surrounding boxing.

And even if you don't know about boxing and aren't an athlete, the book series, with the latest Warrior Angel, still may interest you.

Lipsyte is able to take you ringside with sweat flying, anticipation of the winner and a little romance on the sidelines. The books are really character studies that bring all the boxing action along.

He teaches you about boxing in the course of the story and incorporates as much drama as the World Wrestling Entertainment. After reading one of his novels, you might think Lipsyte was a boxer.

And when you talk to him, he seems to have the heart of a boxer.

But in an interview, he revealed that he "always liked sports but didn't do too well in them, so I started writing about sports" as a way of connecting with athletes. He has had lots of chances to be connected to sports now, maybe more than his friends who were playing in youth leagues when he was a kid.

Lipsyte, 65, was born and raised in New York, the son of two teachers. His parents were supportive of his decision to become a writer. He attended Columbia University.

He now writes for the New York Times. He has interviewed sports superstars Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan. And he has a new book, Warrior Angel, which is the latest in a series of four books that spans 35 years.

His explanation for the long lapses between books is that he wrote them whenever an idea "triggered his imagination for another story." Lipsyte's books incorporate the real-life stories of people he has encountered along his way.

Lipsyte's first book, The Contender, was inspired by a chance meeting. The author went to cover a boxing match. While waiting for it to begin, he met a man that owned a gym in Harlem. The man wanted to train new boxers. The man told Lipsyte that he knew that if a boy from Harlem came into his gym and trained, they would be committed to boxing and they would stay out of trouble.

"The gym owner that told me this story listened every night for footsteps, hoping that someone would come in and submit to training," Lipsyte said. This chance meeting is where Lipsyte got his inspiration for the main character, Alfred, in The Contender. Alfred becomes a boxer and later he has to go to war.

Lipsyte's second book, The Brave, also is written based on a real-life situation. This time Lipsyte was sent as a reporter to do a story on "an Indian reservation where there was a teenager that didn't appreciate his Indian culture." Lipsyte took this story and created a character named Sonny Bear, who is trained by Alfred to be a boxer.

Sonny Bear uses his anger over his American Indian culture to inspire him in Lipsyte's third book, The Chief, which is about a boxer who becomes a heavyweight champion.

One of the characters in the book, Martin, appears to be a lot like Lipsyte himself. Martin, a writer covering Sonny Bear's career, is very smart, eats when he is nervous and notices details.

In Lipsyte's fourth book in the series, Warrior Angel, Sonny Bear becomes depressed and begins to turn away all of his friends. Lipsyte chose this story line because "there are lots of discussions today about teenage depression."

Lipsyte's description of fighting scenes is enjoyable in each of his books. He is able to make you feel like you are ringside at the match, and he uses excellent detail to describe the fighters, the action and the other characters.

But this same detail taken to extreme could confuse younger readers. Lipsyte uses a great deal of dialogue and sometimes it is confusing to follow who is speaking. It is at times like reading a play.

The author also uses many names for the same fighter, for example, Sonny Bear (a nickname) also was also George Harrison Bayor (his real name) and the Tomahawk Kid (his stage name). A younger reader might find it challenging to keep the characters straight.

Most readers male or female older than age 12 will find that these are well-written novels that can be enjoyed whether you are a boxing fan or not. You may find yourself actually caring about the characters and boxing.

- Nathaniel DiMura, 13, is in seventh grade at Seminole Middle School.

Here's the rest of today's Xpress