Why I Fight by J. Adams Oaks

Rating: 4.2/5
Age R: 13+
Release Date: April 21, 2009
Synopsis:
Wyatt Reaves takes the seat next to you, bloodied and soaking wet, and he is a big-fisted beast. Tell him to stretch out like an X across asphalt and you've got a parking space. But Wyatt's been taking it lying down for too long, and he is NOT happy.

Since he turned twelve and a half, he's been living with his uncle, a traveling salesman of mysterious agenda and questionable intent. Soon, Uncle Spade sees the potential in "kiddo" to earn cash. And that's enough to keep the boy around for nearly six years.

But what life does Wyatt deserve? Alcohol? Drugs? Bare-fisted fights? Tattoos? No friends? No role models? Living in a car? If you're brave enough to stay and listen, you'll hear an astounding story. It's not a pretty road Wyatt has traveled, but growing up rarely is.

Thoughts:
The first thing you should know about this book before reading it is that you WILL fall in love with Wyatt's voice. Don't say I didn't warn you. :)
The reason why I didn't full on really love this book was because it was slow at times and the story didn't really go anywhere. The reader learns all about Wyatt and how he's finding himself but at the same time the story is just lacking somehow. I would have loved to learn more about how Wyatt feels about the fights, more details and less talk about traveling from place to place. That was honestly boring. I wanted Wyatt to tell me more about his life. Or maybe if the book were longer I would have liked it more. Yes, I think that would have made a huge difference but only if I got more information about Wyatt and his troubles.
It's a coming of age story about a 12 year old boy (by the end of the book he's 16) and his strange/violent/sad life. Like I said before, I wish there were to the story, but I don't regret having read this book even if I had to take a break now and then, it was definitely worth the ride.
I loved Wyatt's voice and how he's actually speaking to you. It made me feel like that nurse sitting beside Forest Gump at the bus stop while he was telling his wonderful story. :)
For the few flaws this book has it is for sure worth reading more than once. If it's not your kind of book you should still pick it up just because the writing is so lovely. :)

Note:
Even though this book is about fighting, not much of it happens, that we are told about anyway, and it's not written with icky gory details so don't be scared to pick it up.

Neato:
The writing :)
I liked how the dialogue does not have all the regular punctuation marks. It's pretty nifty. At first it took some getting used to but I quickly ended up loving it.

Not-so neato:
The only thing I didn't like was how it was slow at times.

Quote/s:

"I remember one day real good. It was one of those perfect afternoons when the heat and the sun warm your skin just right. One of those times you think about later when you need something to reminds you how life can be. It was quite and slow. The sky looked like a lake, and if you listened carefully ..."

-I can't stop smiling, I said up to the sky.
-Why?
-I don't know...Sometimes you forget how good a smile can feel...
-But sometimes it's work to keep smiling, she said.....

YOU WILL ENJOY READING THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE/ARE INTERESTED IN:
-fighting
-violence
-moving from place to place often
-parents are not in kid's life
-uncles
-mind-boggling writing
-coming of age stories
-Clark Kent---a character in the book is called Clark Kent!!! I LOVE Superman so I thought this was super duper :)