Caged Warrior
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
A ferocious novel, Caged Warrior is like a great fight movie, a tour-de-force of relentless conflict, but one that is leavened with rich characters and meaningful and loving relationships.
McCutcheon Daniels' life is full of bone-cracking violence. As a star fighter in the gritty underground Mixed Martial Arts circuit in the poorest section of Detroit, McCutcheon fights under the tutelage of his volatile and violent father, not so much for himself but to survive as protector of his beloved five-year old sister, Gemma.
As McCutcheon battles opponents who are literally trying to kill him, he struggles to find a way to protect her and himself. Along the way, he decides to trust a teacher who has taken an interest in him and begins to redirect the path his life is taking. Until he discovers the truth about his mother who seemingly disappeared on his thirteenth birthday.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Continuing to take on the challenge of reaching reluctant readers, Sitomer (The Downside of Being Up) creates a window into the brutal world of underground Mixed Martial Arts cage fighting in a rough Detroit neighborhood. Fifteen-year-old McCutcheon "Bam Bam" Daniels, a self-proclaimed "street mutt," has been a part of the cage-fighting world for years but has recently begun to question whether he has the "killa instinct" and to consider the long-term physical effects of the sport. McCutcheon fights for prize money to pay his father's debts to the Priests, a lethal local gang, and to take care of his five-year-old sister, Gemma. When McCutcheon's science teacher shows an interest in his future, suggesting that he attend charter school, a path out of cage fighting begins to materialize. Detailed fight scenes are unsettling but not gratuitous, while raw depictions of McCutcheon's poverty will have readers feeling his fear and pain. Sitomer examines the repercussions of unflinching dedication to a violent sport, while acknowledging the difficulties inherent in making a change that requires stepping into the unknown. Ages 10 14.
