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Chula feels as if her family is falling apart. Her father drinks more and more. Her brother is falling in with the wrong crowd. Abuela is barely there, seemingly unaware of family life going on around her, and her mother constantly worries about the situation. Chula even feels like her own body is falling apart. Since being involved in a serious car accident, she faces trouble in school and regular seizures; she calls them “Flashes”.
Her father has a plan to turn things around, though. He has sent to his native Mexico for “El Jefe,” a formidable fighter. With El Jefe participating in local fighting rings, their family can finally earn the money they so desperately need.
El Jefe is a beast of a man, inspiring fear in everyone who sees him. Yet Chula feels strangely drawn to the fighter. She senses the gentleness beneath the rough exterior and finds an unlikely friend in the man. What will the rest of the family gain or lose from El Jefe's presence in their lives?
Prizefighter en Mi Casa adds an interesting element to a traditional story of learning to deal with personal illness and coming to terms with a changing family dynamic. Readers will be drawn into the lives of Chula, her family and El Jefe as they worry, laugh and cry right along with them. The novel is also a story of prejudice, both in terms of the attitudes Chula's family faces because of its Mexican heritage and the prejudice faced by anyone who is even slightly different from the norm. Prizefighter en Mi Casa will leave readers with much to ponder.
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Prizefighter en Mi Casa