Books like Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow


Karl Stern, a German youth who has never seen a synagogue or practiced Judaism, faces relentless bullying in school because of his heritage. Seeking to prove himself, he agrees to boxing lessons arranged by Max Schmeling, the celebrated German champion. Though Karl lacks any interest in the sport, the training offers him a path to redefine his identity. As the Nazi regime hardens its persecution of Jews, Karl must become the protector of his family while Max’s close ties to Adolf Hitler grow. In this historical young‑adult tale, Karl navigates the demands of boxing ambition, loyalty, and survival under one of history’s darkest regimes.
First publish date: 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction/20th Century Historical Fiction
Authors: Robert Sharenow
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.3 (3 community ratings)

Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow

How are these books recommended?

The books recommended for Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.


Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.

Books similar to Berlin Boxing Club (26 similar books)

Pride and Prejudice by 6487689|Jane Austen book cover

📘 Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel by Jane Austen.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 (304 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Book Thief by 4615885|Markus Zusak book cover

📘 The Book Thief

During World War II, a foster girl in Nazi Germany steals books to share with neighbors and a hidden Jewish man, proving literature’s power to nourish the soul amid darkness.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 (121 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Outsiders by 8330410|S. E. Hinton book cover

📘 The Outsiders

The story of a greaser and his friend, who are torn apart by the world's two types of people and must learn to cope with their differences.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 (110 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The Kite Runner by 4472997|Khaled Hosseini book cover

📘 The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner follows an unlikely friendship between a privileged boy and the son of his father’s servant amid Afghanistan’s turbulent history, exploring betrayal, redemption, and the father‑son bond.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 (107 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Number the Stars by 6539882|Lois Lowry book cover

📘 Number the Stars
 by Lois Lowry

In 1943 Copenhagen, ten‑year‑old Annemarie Johansen helps her Jewish friend Ellen Rosen escape Nazi persecution, learning courage and resilience while navigating war‑time hardships.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 (96 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Persepolis by 4270412|Marjane Satrapi book cover

📘 Persepolis

A personal, illustrated memoir of Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in Tehran, her coming‑of‑age during the Islamic Revolution, teenage years in Vienna and eventual exile from Iran.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 (46 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Esperanza Rising by 10886406|Pam Muñoz Ryan book cover

📘 Esperanza Rising

Mexican farm workers must adjust to life in California during the Great Depression.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 (38 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Refugee by 4650514|Alan Gratz book cover

📘 Refugee
 by Alan Gratz

Three teenagers from different eras and continents embark on perilous journeys to escape war, persecution, and tyranny, each facing drowning, bombings and betrayal, yet their stories converge, showing that hope endures across time and borders.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 (33 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The war that Saved my Life by 6747693|Kimberly Brubaker Bradley book cover

📘 The war that Saved my Life

A nine‑year‑old girl named Ada escapes her abusive home amid World War II, joining her brother in London’s evacuation; she learns to ride a pony, reads, and finds a new family with Susan Smith while watching for German spies.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 (24 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
I Survived The Nazi Invasion, 1944 by 12698122|Lauren Tarshis book cover

📘 I Survived The Nazi Invasion, 1944

A 10‑year‑old boy named Max and his little sister live through the Nazi invasion of 1944 from a child’s perspective, illustrating survival, resistance, and the Holocaust’s impact on young Jewish families.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 (12 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by 11398168|Jesse Andrews book cover

📘 Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Greg, a high‑schooler in Pittsburgh, is forced by his mother into an unlikely friendship with Rachel, the leukemia‑diagnosed girl from his Hebrew school, forcing him to confront loneliness, family, and the meaning of friendship.

★★★★★★★★★★ 2.6 (8 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Code Name Verity by 12072490|Elizabeth Wein book cover

📘 Code Name Verity

A 1943 British fighter pilot crash-lands in Nazi‑occupied France and recounts her daring escape, espionage, and friendship to a young French woman while concealing her true mission.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 (7 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The diviners by 7950250|Libba Bray book cover

📘 The diviners
 by Libba Bray

Evie O'Neill discovers she has supernatural abilities while navigating the seedy underworld of 1920s New York City.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (3 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Malka Mai by 8328526|Mirjam Pressler book cover

📘 Malka Mai

A young girl's journey across borders and through Nazi-occupied Hungary as her mother searches for her in a world of strangers and constant fear of Nazi roundups.

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 (3 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Before we were free by 7272698|Julia Alvarez book cover

📘 Before we were free

A Dominican girl’s coming‑of‑age story set against the 1960 Trujillo dictatorship, as she faces family exile, secret police terror, and the fear‑some disappearance of her uncle.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.0 (2 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Simon's escape by 6403494|Bonnie Pryor book cover

📘 Simon's escape

Simon, a young Polish Jew, is uprooted by the Nazis from his Warsaw home into a cramped ghetto, where his family is seized. Alone, he flees to the countryside and struggles to survive amid the horrors of the Holocaust.

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Mare's war by 11089101|Tanita S. Davis book cover

📘 Mare's war

A grand adventure with a rebellious grandmother and her adventurous granddaughters.

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 (1 rating)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Ashes in the Snow by 11147927|Ruta Sepetys book cover

📘 Ashes in the Snow


★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Daniel half human and the good Nazi by 5592074|David Chotjewitz book cover

📘 Daniel half human and the good Nazi

Best friends Daniel and Armin in Hamburg look up to Hitler in 1933, until anti‑Jewish laws threaten Daniel’s German-Jewish heritage, testing they friendship amid the rise of Nazism.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
The fighter by 13019719|Jean-Jacques Greif book cover

📘 The fighter

A Polish Jewish boy, Moshe Wisniak, survives the Holocaust by using his strength, wit, and luck in concentration camps.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Crossing stones by 6312345|Helen Frost book cover

📘 Crossing stones

Four young voices—Muriel, Frank, Emma and Ollie—share their World War I experiences, from enlistment and overseas service to school graduation and the fight for peace and women’s suffrage, all set in Michigan.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Yellow star by 4605526|Jennifer Rozines Roy book cover

📘 Yellow star

From 1939 to 1945, a Jewish girl named Syvia and her family survive the horrors of the Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Inexcusable by 6635916|Chris Lynch book cover

📘 Inexcusable

A football player's graduation night transforms into a nightmare after he accidentally hits a girl with a drunken friend, forcing him to confront his dark past and the impact it has had on his family and friends.

★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
Library of classic women's literature by 6487689|Jane Austen book cover

📘 Library of classic women's literature


★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL by 8768553|Anne Frank book cover

📘 THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL
 by Anne Frank


★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0
When boxing was a Jewish sport by 8225011|Allen Bodner book cover

📘 When boxing was a Jewish sport


★★★★★★★★★★ 0.0 (0 ratings)
Similar? ✓ Yes 0 ✗ No 0

Some Other Similar Books

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!

Please login to submit books!