Save Me, Joe Louis

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

In the 1950s, Toronto was a place where a grown man could not drink beer
on his own front porch. If you were a teenager who could hit, however,
you could step into an arena and box professionally. Young Robbie
Blackstone is just such a man–child; not quite 16, he is already
developing a reputation as a potential champion. Robbie’s professional
debut is propelled by an unlikely trio: Jimmy McSweeny, a
brain-scrambled semi-pro; Rocco, a former champ with underworld ties;
and Shiner, Robbie’s shady stockbroker stepfather. Robbie’s ability
to deliver a knockout punch both impresses and frightens his trainer,
Stu Pearce, who has devoted his life to boxing and yet still has mixed
feelings about the sport.

The “sport” of boxing does not naturally lend itself to sweet
prose, but if anyone can find a lyrical thread in a conversation about
urinating blood, it is the Governor General’s Award–winning M.T.
Kelly. The author of this tightly written novel writes like a man who
knows what it is like to take or land a solid punch. Like his character
Stu Pearce, Kelly neither promotes or condemns boxing; rather, he uses
it as a sparring partner while he explores the intricacy of human
relationships.