How fun is this title! I love the jacket cover and heard amazing things about this book. It’s sad, it’s funny, it’s Toews at her peak. Awesome. Usually I don’t go in for the hype but this time I wholeheartedly agree.
Fight Night is told from 9-year-old Swiv’s perspective. And she is a smartass. Swiv lives with her pregnant mother (who finds herself single and very preggers with “Gord”) and her elderly Grandma (who is a total card and cheeky, sassy, funny). Swiv is expelled from school, seems not to be the first issue, and she and Grandma are homeschooling. They assign each other writing assignments and have editorial meetings. It’s great.
“Gord” is the temporary name for the baby and there is a lot of stuff hung on “Gord” but Swiv is a protective big sister already and tries to keep the adults in line.
It’s a slow moving but very quirky look at a little family of women who are surviving in their own way, fighting the good fight.
The peak of hilarity is when Swiv and Grandma go to the US to visit her nephews. There’s a runaway wheelchair incident, an accident at a nursing home, and a hot young guy who gives Grandma his phone number.
The story is wild and fun and so lovely. Please give Fight Night by Miriam Toews a read.