Customer Rating:  
Summary: Wrestling Woes
Comment: Ben and his three friends have been a solid group since middle school. They started out wrestling together when they were that young, and their dream was always to wrestle for the high school team and perhaps lead their team to state championships in four different weight classes. Wrestling is a huge sport--the only sport that matters--in the town of Sturbridge, though, and many other boys have had the same dream. Ben and his friends think that they have the drive to make it, though.
Suddenly it is senior year, and they seem to be living the dream. Well, all except Ben. The previous year it had seemed like he and his friends would rule four consecutive weight classes. Then one of his friends gained weight and moved up into Ben's class, and Ben can't seem to beat him. He can't gain enough weight in muscle to move up beyond his friends, and he can't lose enough weight to drop a class without being too weak to wrestle at all. It is beginning to look to Ben like he may not wrestle this season--unless he is able to beat his friend in a match for the slot on the team. Will Ben have the drive and the ability to earn a varsity position? When his focus is drawn to a new girlfriend, will wrestling even matter to him anymore?
I liked the relationship between Ben and his father, and especially the odd gift Ben's father gives him at the end of the book. I also liked the description of Sturbridge; it was very well set up in this book. I liked the way each chapter started with lists of things that were important to know about Ben, and I especially liked the unpredictable ending.
I didn't really understand the relationship between Ben and Kim. It seemed that all of a sudden they were dating pretty seriously with no real lead-in or explanation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Young Adult Novel That Isn't
Comment: Rich Wallace's WRESTLING STURBRIDGE is the best young adult novel you are likely to read...and a darn good novel period (regardless of age demarcations). I think I've given away at least 10 copies of this book to nieces and nephews over the years and every one of them loved it. Along with STONEWALL'S GOLD, WRESTLING STURBRIDGE proves that the YA genre is no longer the domain of hacks and scribes who have failed at other genres. There is some terrific fiction out there for discriminating teens and tweeners and I would put STURBRIDGE at the very top of the pile.
Customer Rating:
Summary: champion wrestler
Comment:
Here comes a team of lean mean wrestling machines! They are going to Sturbridge for a wrestling match. Who will win? Will Benny the main character or his friend al win? You'll see who wins in the book Wrestling Sturbridge by Rich Wallace. Benny is an athletic teenager that cant beat his friend Al, or will that change.
He has 2 more friends on his wrestling team Digit and Hatcher. They are good wrestlers but not good enough to beat Benny or Al. They hooked up as a wrestling team ever since they started. Who will win you'll see in this fabulous book Wrestling Sturbridge. This exciting book is very good so you should read it.
This wrestling team was friends or will that change when benny an al have to wrestle each other and become enemies wrestling for king of the mat. So get to reading the best wrestling book around.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Syrupy Romance Book
Comment: This is a sad, tragic tale that is all too common for many U.S. high school wrestlers - a kid with the potential to become a state champion and win a free ride to college, but who blows it all because his hormones are raging and he can't stay focused on his goal. Wallace attempts to highlight the impediments to individual success within the young wrestler's cultural milieu, thereby producing a useful social commentary.
The plot is whether the wrestler will make his school's varsity squad by knocking off his fellow state-seeded team mate. The subplot, heavily intertwined with the plot, is whether the wrestler can keep his mind off girls so he can wrestle. Unfortunately, much of the subplot is inappropriate for school-aged readers - "I can taste Kim's mouth and her skin" (p132). Adult readers will sense the author has no daughters of his own.
As a retired wrestling coach, I found the subplot unhelpful to the main character. A lesser character, another member of the team, could have been shown to fail at wrestling because of his lack of focus rather than the main character. The author could have shown the rewards for a wrestler that come from perserverance and persistance rather than setting his sights on the mistakes of a loser who is content that he got the girl - "Life is good. I have Kim" (133). The main character hasn't graduated school yet, failed to make varsity when he is good enough to be offered a college scholarship for wrestling, has no plans beyond the moment, and believes "life is good". In short, this is a short manual on what NOT TO DO to be a winner at wrestling.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wrestle Offs
Comment: A boy named Ben who wants to be the best Wrestler. But to get there he has to beat out his friend Al. Al is also the best in State. As his senior year comes to an end, will he beat out Al at wrestle offs or watch his dream wash away as he sits the bench?
I really liked this book because it shows a typical teenager trying to be the best. I liked how it showed Ben trying to get Kim the girl he liked to be his girlfriend. It also has a lot about wrestling in the book. I liked the parts of the book that are realistic like when Ben is cutting weight. The only thing I didn't like was that the ending wasn't how I pictured it.
A person who would probably like this book is a person who likes wrestling. Other people that might like this book are people that like shorter books.
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