The only practical way in or out of Bear River, Maine has always been by canoe or bateau over the river. And then the paper company builds a road and everything begins to change.

For 16-year-old Jared MacBurron the road is his door to the future, but it also brings the unexpected when the first car to reach the village is a prizefighter looking for a payday. For while there have always been prize fights in Bear River, they were mostly between the men who worked in the logging camps. The winner of each fight became the champion of Bear River and got to stay on in the small village until someone tougher came along.

But with the road comes a professional boxer at the end of his career. And the one thing Jared wants to learn above anything else is how to box.

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