I love historical fiction, and one of my favorite time periods to visit is World War II. That may be because there are so many excellent books that recreate those years of danger and courage. I’m adding The Berlin Boxing Club (Scholastic 2011) by Robert Sharenow to my list of favorite tiles to recommend.

Growing up in Berlin under the shadow of the Nazi rise to power, Karl Stern watches as his life spirals out of control. His father’s art gallery is losing business. His mother suffers from more frequent periods of depression. Even though his family has never been religiously observant, the bullies at school mark him as Jewish and lie in wait to beat him up. Eventually, his family loses their home and struggles to find enough to eat.

Two things provide an escape for Karl. He constantly draws cartoons and caricatures in his journal to make sense of his life. Then Max Schmeling, world-champion boxer and German hero, offers to give Karl boxing lessons. The training and boxing lessons transform Karl in both body and soul, but will it be enough for him to protect his family from the growing Nazi violence?

I don’t even like boxing (I’m much more like Greta, who questions why anyone would willingly fight), but I found myself cheering for Karl every time he stepped in to the ring, and even more when he fought Nazi bullies who attacked him. I also loved that Karl’s cartoons were included in the book, from the Winzig and Spatz cartoons he drew for his little sister to the drawings of his boxing opponents that served as notes on their strengths and weaknesses.

Very few of the characters in this book are simple and one-sided. Instead, we see different facets of the characters revealed in different situations, none more so that Karl’s father. As Karl learns more about his father’s past, he learns to appreciate the choices his father has made. Karl also comes to question his hero Max Schmeling, who both has Jewish friends and hobnobs with the Nazi elite.

Berlin under the rise of Nazism was not an easy place to grow up, but Karl Stern does so with courage and strength.