A Harlem high school dropout escapes from a gang of punks into a boxing gym, where he learns that being a contender is hard and often discouraging work, but that you don't know anything until you try.

Told in assonant free verse, Levi was once a premature baby who suffered from respiratory problems; he recovered, and now in seventh grade, he struggles to demonstrate to his divorced mother and overprotective brother that he is okay--so when his father suggests he take up boxing he falls in love with the sport, but he still must find a way to convince his family to set him free to follow his dream.

Brooklyn. Since Gravity "Doomsday" Delgado started working with Coach Thomas, she been breaking records, breaking her competitors, and breaking the walls inside her. Boxiing is taking her places. She makes friends with other boxers: flirtatious Lefty, hard-to-beat D-Minus, artistic Kimani "Monster" Browne, and a host of others. But things with her mother are reaching a tipping point, and Gravity has to look out for her little brother Ty. With a shot...

Paulina, nicknamed Feather, leaves her piano to take up boxing, showing her father and brothers that she will stand up for herself.

Fifteen-year-old Terry, an aspiring boxer, uncovers the mystery behind the unexpected death of a classmate.

Charlie Kenton is a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max to build and train a championship contender.

After not being allowed to take a boxing class at her school because she is a girl, Fleur deals with bullying and disapproval in her quest to set things right and ensure equal opportunity for all students.

A former champion boxer embarks on the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister.

Set in the 1850s in London, England, this story, told through the interwoven voices of several narrators, relates the adventures of a troubled but charismatic prize-fighting evangelist whose career finally takes him to British Columbia and the greatest match of his life when he challenges the Devil to a battle in the ring.