Booklist (May 15, 2014):
Grades 9-12. On the mean streets of Detroit, McCutcheon Daniels—aka Bam Bam—has a mean rep in the underground sport of mixed martial arts. Trained by his father, McCutcheon has been preened to be a fighter with killa instinct whose no-holds-barred battles are his family’s sole source of income. Out of the cage, this weekend warrior is a tenth-grader and loving brother who does everything he can to keep his little sister safe and provided for. When a teacher takes a special interest in McCutcheon, offering him a future that isn’t determined by his fists, he is given a choice for the first time in his life, but it’s one that might incur the wrath of his father as well as the men running the fight circuit. Sitomer pulls no punches in this novel where fights and life alike are merciless and characterized by grit, blood, endurance, and smarts. Yet amid the violence, McCutcheon’s inner strength shines, guaranteeing readers will back him through the book’s harsh twists and turns.