Details

Length: 339
Story Build: Quick 
Character development: Solid
Age Recommendation: 6th grade and up 
Reasoning: characters are in middle school 

Summary and Review

Hey, remember when I was raving about K. A. Holt? Well, here’s another book by her! And guess what? Timothy, from House Arrest, returns in this one! For those who may not remember, Timothy committed some crimes in order to save his brother, Levi, who was struggling to breathe with a trach in the previous book. Why is Timothy back, you ask?

Well, Knock Out is about Levi. So clearly Levi is doing okay. In fact, Levi is in middle school, and his best friend, Tam, is becoming friends with a girl named, Kate. If this sounds familiar, that’s because that particular friendship is the entire basis for Redwood and Ponytail. Turns out I read these books completely out of order. Also, it turns out that it doesn’t matter! Ha. 

Anyway, Levi is in middle school, but if that weren’t enough of a difficulty, he feels stifled by his mother and Timothy who are constantly worried if he is okay. If you read House Arrest, you will really understand their fear. But, if you aren’t, this book does a nice job of continuing to reiterate that Levi has struggled with breathing issues since being born. 

So basically Levi feels trapped because Timothy and their mom are constantly asking Levi if he is okay and limit his ability to participate in many activities. The only person who seems like he wants to support Levi is his dad. However, their father left the family when Levi was first born, so Timothy doesn’t trust him, and Levi will soon see that he is a pretty difficult individual. 

Nevertheless, his father encourages Levi to try boxing, and Levi falls in love with it. However, he must keep it a secret from his mother and Timothy, which results in some conflict. He also wants to switch schools and go to a private one where boxing is a part of the curriculum. So now Levi must figure out how to make that happen… 

Running parallel to Levi’s love affair with boxing is his struggle to understand his brother, Timothy. Levi hasn’t quite understood the lengths Timothy has gone to help him nor does he fathom the amount of time that Timothy has spent putting his life on hold to take care of him. Therefore, some of this story is about the relationship between the brothers and Levi’s growing understanding of what it means to be a supportive family member. 

If you have enjoyed K. A. Holt’s other novels, this is a great read, too. It’s a novel about family, friendship, freedom, and forgiveness. It’s a novel about all the good stuff. Oh, and as always, it’s written in Holt’s signature verse style… 

Celebrations

Personally, I love that Timothy is in this text. I really loved him in House Arrest, and I liked getting to continue to read his narrative, too. I was more interested in knowing what happened to him, actually. I also liked the many layers to the plot. You have Levi’s interest in boxing, his health, his struggles with Tam and her new friendship with Kate, his misunderstanding of Timothy, and his rocky relationship with his father. There are many pieces to the plot, which makes for an entertaining read. 

Hesitations

To be honest, I don’t love Levi. I appreciate his strength and commitment, but out of all of Holt’s characters, I have enjoyed him the least. I think I might have found him annoying compared to his driven and fiercely loving brother and his spunky best friend. However, the book is still good!