Getting the Girl

by Markus Zusak

Overview

In this sequel to the award-winning FIGHTING RUBEN WOLFE, Cameron explores the ecstasy, the danger, and the cost of love.

Cameron Wolfe is a loser. He knows it. He's the quiet one, not a soccer star like his brother Steve or a charming fighter with a new girl every week like his brother Rube. Cam would give anything to be near one of those girls, to love her and treat her right. He especially likes Rube's latest, Octavia, with her brilliant ideas and bright green eyes. But what woman like that would want a loser like him?
Maybe Octavia would, Cam discovers. Maybe he'd even have something to say. And those maybes change everything: winning, loving, losing, the Wolfe brothers, and Cameron himself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545623704
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	05/28/2013
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	345,317
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

MARKUS ZUSAK’s bestselling novel The Book Thief was originally published in the UK in 2007. It has since become a modern classic, published around the world and turned into a film. Markus Zusak lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife and two children.

Editorial Reviews

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books July/August 2003
Cam and his older brother, Rube (from Fighting Ruben Wolfe, BCCB 3101), return in this examination of the nature of love, romantic and otherwise. Rube hasn't changed since the last book; he's still a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy. Cam, on the other hand, is figuring out the kind of guy he wants to be, and it isn't Ruben. Currently a loner ('You're a bit of a lonely bastard aren't y'?' his brother says), Cam is as desperate for human contact as he is for an emotional outlet, and he finds that outlet through a form of self--expression that is almost the antithesis of Rubc's bloody battles in the boxing ring. he writes. On scraps of paper he keeps stuffed in his pockets, Cam evokes his world in smears of words that manifest his longing. When Rube and Octavia (a young woman Cam sees as a cut above the rest of Ruhe's previous girlfriends) break up, Cam emerges from his solitude into a world with Octavia in it; he reveals himself to her, and she has the intelligence to welcome that revelation. Zusak rides his prose as if taming something wild, giving a sense of Cam's emotional upheaval without losing control of the momentum and pace. Solid characterizations ground the action, with Cam's personality artfully limned in a first-person narrative interspersed with his own writings; clipped staccato language, concrete and minimal, evokes the power and complexity of his yearnings. The relationship between Rube and Cam is the cohesive element in a novel that explores Cam's growing, passionate connections to the world. Readers making their own connections, passionate and otherwise, will revel in Cam's success. JMD

Booklist May 15 2003
In this sequel to Fighting Ruben Wolfe (2001), the Wolfe family has settled into a kind of "okayness." For Cameron's brother Ruben that means "one girl after another, one fight after another." Only Cameron, who's-in adolescence's high season, seems to feel restless and alone as he wanders the streets, pines over uninterested girls, and begins to discover his passion for writing. Then Ruben brings home beautiful Octavia, who, when Ruben predictably dumps her, surprises both brothers by turning to Cameron. Zusak interrupts Cameron's first-person narrative with excerpts from Cameron's writing that, as does much of the book, reads like what it's supposed to be: the words of a talented teenage writer, including some heavy metaphors, self-consciously experimental style, and fresh, inventive images. The authentic emotion behind the words and Cameron's raw experiences are powerful, though, and teens, especially boys, will easily connect with Cameron's intense yearning to define himself within his family and to discover what romance is all about-to explore, as he puts it, "the edges of words, the loyalty of blood, and the music of girls."

(Middle School, High School) Since Cameron and Ruben have quit boxing (Fighting Ruben Wolfe, rev. 3/01), Cam is no longer losing to his older brother in the ring. But he still can't measure up to Rube when it comes to getting a girl. "My brother never really had to say or do anything. He just had to stand somewhere or scratch himself or even trip up a gutter and a girl would like him." Cam, on the other hand, spends his evenings standing silently outside the house of the girl he likes, an action--or inaction--that causes Ruben to observe, "You're a bit of a lonely bastard aren't y'?" But when Ruben callously discards his latest girl--a street performer named Octavia--Cameron begins to forge his first serious relationship with the beguiling harmonica player. This story of first love complicated by a serious case of sibling rivalry lacks the blustering narrative voice of its predecessor. Cam has now taken an interest in writing, and each chapter ends with a sampling of his often overwrought work ("If her soul ever leaks, I want

From the Publisher

Gr 8 Up—Cameron Wolfe has never had a girlfriend. He's had many crushes including his most recent one, Octavia. Pretty, funny, and great on the harmonica, Octavia is the current girlfriend of Cameron's brother, Ruben. His sibling doesn't treat any of his girlfriends well, and Cameron believes Octavia deserves better. When Ruben and Octavia break up, Cameron begins a relationship with her. His brother acts as if everything is fine, but this turns out to be the first real conflict between them. Will either relationship remain intact? Cameron's sister, Sarah, shows her brother that he is his own person and has many strengths—he's smart, funny, and sensitive. Markus Zusak's sequel (2003) to Fighting Ruben Wolfe (2001, both Arthur A. Levine Bks.; Brilliance, 2011) is about family relationships, personal discoveries, and first love. The audiobook, which can stand on its own, is narrated by Stig Wemyss in an Aussie accent that adds authenticity to the story. This coming-of-age tale from a teen boy's perspective is a good choice for most library collections.—Elizabeth L. Kenyon, Merrillville High School, IN

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