Reviews

Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence by Joel Christian Gill

kendra_kendra's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.5

hopemercy's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

4.25

kingbeanreads's review against another edition

dark

4.0

jenmillie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense

5.0

As I read it, I thought how incredibly important it is for young adults to be reading this. And as an adult reading it, what an incredibly true and heartfelt journey it is. Finding out the author is (was?) a professor of graphic art at Mass Art in Boston MA was a treat. "Professor Joel Christian Gill is a cartoonist who writes and draws comics and graphic novels about black history."

laleha's review against another edition

5.0

"If you are older and read this book, I hope that when you see children acting out in ways that I acted out, this will help you understand that they might be in situations similar--or even worse--than what I experienced. This insight, I hope, will encourage you to try and learn their story."

2000s's review against another edition

4.0

Great graphic memoir - very heavy in many parts but hilarious in others. Joel really did the work of showing how different life events and relationships and feelings are all connected. As always I wish there was more but there was still amazing detail and depth to this one. 

briface's review against another edition

5.0

This should be required reading for adults that work with kids. Remember if there's kid that's always angry and fighting there's probably a reason (or 10) behind that that you know nothing about.

agentshellfish's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

clairewrobel's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

brizreading's review against another edition

5.0

As I have often said, the graphic novel memoir is a super duper saturated genre. So it takes a lot for it to be good. This one is good. VERY good. It mostly follows the author growing up in a traumatic, abusive system and family - he really doesn't get a break for the first X years of his life. As the reader, you have an enormous amount of sympathy for him, even as he projects "tough kid" attitude. This was sad, touching, but ultimately inspiring as well. Really glad I picked it up.