About the author
Mark Cerasini wrote the book Cinderella Man from the
movie. He often works on novelizations for some of the
big movie companies in Hollywood.
About the movie
Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman worked
together to write the story for the movie Cinderella Man.
Before the movie, the story of Jim Braddock was not
well known in the United States. Hollingsworth wanted
to tell modern Americans about this great man, so he
contacted Braddock’s sons, Jay and Howard. They read
Hollingsworth’s first script and loved it.
Hollingsworth wanted to keep as close to the true story as
possible. When Jim pays money back to the relief office
in Chapter 10, it may seem like a Hollywood fantasy, but
it really happened. Jay and Howard Braddock agreed that
the movie story and their parents’ characters were very
accurate. According to Hollingsworth, Jim Braddock “was
a character who was too good to be true––but he was
true!” However, there have been criticisms over the movie’s
unflattering portrayal of the boxer Max Baer.
Akiva Goldsman is an experienced Hollywood scriptwriter.
Summary
Cinderella Man tells the true story of an American boxing
legend, James J. Braddock. A man of the people, Braddock
fights against poverty and obscurity as hard as he does
against his sporting opponents. The book is based on the
2005 movie, directed by Ron Howard and staring Russell
Crowe and Renée Zellweger.
Chapter 1: The story begins in 1928. The American
economy is strong and Jim Braddock has just won his
twenty-seventh fight since becoming a professional boxer.
The fans love him and his manager, Joe Gould, brags
about the win to Jimmy Johnston, an important boxing
promoter who supported Jim’s opponent.
Chapters 2–3: But by 1933 Jim’s luck has gone. America
is suffering under the Great Depression. Like millions of
other Americans, Jim has no steady job. He and his family
move to a poor neighborhood. Jim finds himself unable to
pay the bills or buy enough food for his children. He can’t
get a job.
Jim breaks his right hand in a fight, but wants to box
again soon afterwards because he needs money. Although
it is against the rules, Joe lets him fight with an injured
hand. Jim suffers an embarrassing defeat against a strong
opponent. He loses his boxing license and his manager Joe
leaves him.
Chapters 4–5: Jim finally gets work for a few dollars a
day at the docks. He finds the work difficult because he is
forced to use his left hand. Meanwhile, his wife Mae waits
in line with the children to get free food.
Jim takes a second job and sees less of his family. During
the cold winter, Mae hears that their gas and electricity
will be cut off because they haven’t paid their bills. Jim and
his friend from the docks, Mike, help a poor family who
are about to be locked out of their home. Mike tells Jim
the people need to organize and fight back. Mae takes the
children to live at her relatives’ homes in New York City,
which makes Jim angry. He swallows his pride and asks his
old boxing friends for money to pay the bills so that the
children can come home.
Chapters 6–7: Jim’s right hand finally heals. Joe visits
him and offers him one more fight in the boxing ring. The
fight is against a promising young boxer, and Mae is very
worried. But the prize is two hundred and fifty dollars.
Despite having sold his boxing shoes and with no recent
training, Jims takes the fight. No one expects a has-been
boxer like Jim to fight well. But his work at the docks has
strengthened Jim’s left hand and improved his confidence.
To everyone’s surprise, he wins the fight.
Chapters 8–9: Mae is happy that Jim won, and relieved
when he tells her it was just one fight. But although it is
against his wife’s wishes, he decides to return to the boxing
ring. Jim begins training again and Joe gets him another
fight. He wins and goes on to win more fights.
Chapters 10–11: Jim becomes a popular boxer with
working men, carrying their hopes and dreams with
every punch. His friend Mike, angry and desperate, dies
accidentally while fighting police during a protest. At
Mike’s funeral, Mae wonders if she will lose Jim. Finally,
Jim reaches the top. His opponent will be Max Baer, a
famously violent heavyweight champion who has killed
two men in the ring. His wife begs him not to fight but
the newspapers call Jim the “Cinderella Man”. People say
that his successful return to fighting has inspired poor
Americans.
Chapters 12–13: Mae begs Jim to get out of the fight,
but Jim continues his training. Mae goes to church to pray
for Jim, but even there she meets people who are excited
about the fight and hoping that Jim will win. She begins
to understand how important Jim’s fight is to the poor
working people. She goes to visit Jim just before the fight
and gives him a new pair of boxing shoes to show that
now she supports him. That night Jim enters the ring for
the most important fight of his life.
Chapter 14: At home, Mae and the children listen to
the fight on the radio. At the end of a long and difficult
fight, the two men are still standing. The crowd cheers
for Jim, and finally the judges make the announcement
that everyone wants to hear: Jim Braddock is the new
heavyweight champion. The fighter’s triumph, both in and
out of the ring, has been a truly inspirational tale.
Background and themes
The Great Depression: Cinderella Man begins in New
York in 1928, during the “Roaring Twenties”. This was
an exciting time of great economic prosperity and social
change in the United States. But it came to a sudden end
on Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929, when the stock
market collapsed. The United States (along with the rest of
the industrialized world) fell into the Great Depression.
Cinderella Man gives us a picture of the suffering
of ordinary Americans during the early years of the
Depression. We see unemployed men who are desperate
for work. We see people standing in lines for free food. We
see homeless New Yorkers living on the streets, in cars, on
the subway and in Central Park.
With the election of Franklin Roosevelt as the new
president, the government began to give money to
the country’s poor and build a new economy. Many
Americans, like Jim, hoped that Roosevelt’s plans would
work. Others, like Mike, were more radical, and believed
that the only choice for poor people was to fight the rich.
Family: Cinderella Man tells the story of a loving and
courageous family man. When the Depression comes, Jim
is determined to keep his family together even in the most
difficult circumstances. We see how Mae is torn between
supporting her husband’s career as a boxer, and her fears
for his safety and for her children, if anything happened to
him. We see how the children, in their different ways, try
to support their father and their family—Jay steals food,
Rosy buys a steak to put on her father’s black eye. At the
end of the story, Jim thinks his wife and children are “the
reason why he was not only the heavyweight champion of
the world, but the luckiest man in it.”
Honesty and honor: Another theme that runs through
the story is the importance of living an honest and
honorable life. Jim’s ten-year-old son Jay steals meat for
the family, but Jim makes him return it to the butcher’s
shop and apologize. “We don’t steal,” he tells his son. “It
doesn’t matter what happens.” Although he becomes so
desperately poor that he has to beg money from his old
manager and boxing associates, he never loses his pride.
Discussion activities
Before reading
1 Discuss: Tell students they are going to read a story
about a sport. Ask students to write down their
favorite sport. They should spend a few minutes
thinking about how they can describe the sport, and
about why they like that sport. Encourage them to
make notes. Walk around the class and help students
with vocabulary (if students don’t like any sport, ask
them to think of reason why they don’t). Then choose
some students to tell the rest of the class about their
favorite sport. Find out from the class how many
other students chose that sport as their favorite. Ask
them if they like it for the same reasons. Find out
what is the most popular sport in the class.
Introduction
After reading
2 Predict: Look at the Contents (page iii) and read
the chapter titles. Do you think the story has a happy
ending? Why or why not? What happens in the story, do
you think?
Chapter 1
After reading
3 Write: Ask students to write a profile of Jim Braddock
for a popular magazine. Students can include
information about his sport, home life and other
interests. Encourage students to use their imaginations
and add some details, such as favorite food, hobby, etc.
Chapters 2–3
After reading
4 Discuss: Ask students to work in small groups. Give
each group a large piece of paper and ask them to
make a list of the problems that the Braddock family
faces at the end of Chapter 3. Then ask groups to
think of a solution for each problem on their new list.
When they have finished, put two groups together
and have them compare their lists of problems and
solutions. Ask them to think about how easy or
difficult each solution would be, and what other
problems the Braddocks might face in the next part of
the book.
Chapters 4–5
After reading
5 Write: When the Braddocks’ gas and electricity are
turned off, Mae takes the boys to her father’s and
Rosy to her sister’s. Ask students to write a page in
Jay’s diary about this day. How does he feel about
being sent away? What did he see on the trip to his
grandfather’s house? How does he feel about his sick
brother and sister? Does he like it at his grandfather’s
house? Jim promised not to send the children away.
Does Jay feel differently about his father now that this
promise has been broken?
Chapters 6–7
After reading
6 Role play: Students work in pairs. Ask them to
prepare and then act out the following conversation:
Student A: You are Jim Braddock. Joe Gould has just
told you that you will fight Cor
About the authorMark Cerasini wrote the book Cinderella Man from themovie. He often works on novelizations for some of thebig movie companies in Hollywood.About the movieCliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman workedtogether to write the story for the movie Cinderella Man.Before the movie, the story of Jim Braddock was notwell known in the United States. Hollingsworth wantedto tell modern Americans about this great man, so hecontacted Braddock’s sons, Jay and Howard. They readHollingsworth’s first script and loved it.Hollingsworth wanted to keep as close to the true story aspossible. When Jim pays money back to the relief officein Chapter 10, it may seem like a Hollywood fantasy, butit really happened. Jay and Howard Braddock agreed thatthe movie story and their parents’ characters were veryaccurate. According to Hollingsworth, Jim Braddock “wasa character who was too good to be true––but he wastrue!” However, there have been criticisms over the movie’sunflattering portrayal of the boxer Max Baer.Akiva Goldsman is an experienced Hollywood scriptwriter.SummaryCinderella Man tells the true story of an American boxinglegend, James J. Braddock. A man of the people, Braddockfights against poverty and obscurity as hard as he doesagainst his sporting opponents. The book is based on the2005 movie, directed by Ron Howard and staring RussellCrowe and Renée Zellweger.Chapter 1: The story begins in 1928. The Americaneconomy is strong and Jim Braddock has just won histwenty-seventh fight since becoming a professional boxer.The fans love him and his manager, Joe Gould, bragsabout the win to Jimmy Johnston, an important boxingpromoter who supported Jim’s opponent.Chapters 2–3: But by 1933 Jim’s luck has gone. Americais suffering under the Great Depression. Like millions ofother Americans, Jim has no steady job. He and his familymove to a poor neighborhood. Jim finds himself unable topay the bills or buy enough food for his children. He can’tget a job.Jim breaks his right hand in a fight, but wants to boxagain soon afterwards because he needs money. Althoughit is against the rules, Joe lets him fight with an injuredhand. Jim suffers an embarrassing defeat against a strongopponent. He loses his boxing license and his manager Joeleaves him.Chapters 4–5: Jim finally gets work for a few dollars aday at the docks. He finds the work difficult because he isforced to use his left hand. Meanwhile, his wife Mae waitsin line with the children to get free food.Jim takes a second job and sees less of his family. Duringthe cold winter, Mae hears that their gas and electricitywill be cut off because they haven’t paid their bills. Jim andhis friend from the docks, Mike, help a poor family whoare about to be locked out of their home. Mike tells Jimthe people need to organize and fight back. Mae takes thechildren to live at her relatives’ homes in New York City,which makes Jim angry. He swallows his pride and asks hisold boxing friends for money to pay the bills so that thechildren can come home.Chapters 6–7: Jim’s right hand finally heals. Joe visitshim and offers him one more fight in the boxing ring. Thefight is against a promising young boxer, and Mae is veryworried. But the prize is two hundred and fifty dollars.Despite having sold his boxing shoes and with no recenttraining, Jims takes the fight. No one expects a has-beenboxer like Jim to fight well. But his work at the docks hasstrengthened Jim’s left hand and improved his confidence.To everyone’s surprise, he wins the fight.Chapters 8–9: Mae is happy that Jim won, and relievedwhen he tells her it was just one fight. But although it isagainst his wife’s wishes, he decides to return to the boxingring. Jim begins training again and Joe gets him anotherfight. He wins and goes on to win more fights.Chapters 10–11: Jim becomes a popular boxer withworking men, carrying their hopes and dreams withevery punch. His friend Mike, angry and desperate, diesaccidentally while fighting police during a protest. AtMike’s funeral, Mae wonders if she will lose Jim. Finally,Jim reaches the top. His opponent will be Max Baer, afamously violent heavyweight champion who has killedtwo men in the ring. His wife begs him not to fight butthe newspapers call Jim the “Cinderella Man”. People saythat his successful return to fighting has inspired poorAmericans.Chapters 12–13: Mae begs Jim to get out of the fight,but Jim continues his training. Mae goes to church to prayfor Jim, but even there she meets people who are excitedabout the fight and hoping that Jim will win. She beginsto understand how important Jim’s fight is to the poorworking people. She goes to visit Jim just before the fightand gives him a new pair of boxing shoes to show thatnow she supports him. That night Jim enters the ring forthe most important fight of his life.Chapter 14: At home, Mae and the children listen tothe fight on the radio. At the end of a long and difficultfight, the two men are still standing. The crowd cheersfor Jim, and finally the judges make the announcementthat everyone wants to hear: Jim Braddock is the newheavyweight champion. The fighter’s triumph, both in andout of the ring, has been a truly inspirational tale.Background and themesThe Great Depression: Cinderella Man begins in NewYork in 1928, during the “Roaring Twenties”. This wasan exciting time of great economic prosperity and socialchange in the United States. But it came to a sudden endon Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929, when the stockmarket collapsed. The United States (along with the rest ofthe industrialized world) fell into the Great Depression.Cinderella Man gives us a picture of the sufferingof ordinary Americans during the early years of theDepression. We see unemployed men who are desperatefor work. We see people standing in lines for free food. Wesee homeless New Yorkers living on the streets, in cars, onthe subway and in Central Park.With the election of Franklin Roosevelt as the newpresident, the government began to give money tothe country’s poor and build a new economy. ManyAmericans, like Jim, hoped that Roosevelt’s plans wouldwork. Others, like Mike, were more radical, and believedthat the only choice for poor people was to fight the rich.Family: Cinderella Man tells the story of a loving andcourageous family man. When the Depression comes, Jimis determined to keep his family together even in the mostdifficult circumstances. We see how Mae is torn betweensupporting her husband’s career as a boxer, and her fearsfor his safety and for her children, if anything happened tohim. We see how the children, in their different ways, tryto support their father and their family—Jay steals food,Rosy buys a steak to put on her father’s black eye. At theend of the story, Jim thinks his wife and children are “thereason why he was not only the heavyweight champion ofthe world, but the luckiest man in it.”Honesty and honor: Another theme that runs throughthe story is the importance of living an honest andhonorable life. Jim’s ten-year-old son Jay steals meat forthe family, but Jim makes him return it to the butcher’s
shop and apologize. “We don’t steal,” he tells his son. “It
doesn’t matter what happens.” Although he becomes so
desperately poor that he has to beg money from his old
manager and boxing associates, he never loses his pride.
Discussion activities
Before reading
1 Discuss: Tell students they are going to read a story
about a sport. Ask students to write down their
favorite sport. They should spend a few minutes
thinking about how they can describe the sport, and
about why they like that sport. Encourage them to
make notes. Walk around the class and help students
with vocabulary (if students don’t like any sport, ask
them to think of reason why they don’t). Then choose
some students to tell the rest of the class about their
favorite sport. Find out from the class how many
other students chose that sport as their favorite. Ask
them if they like it for the same reasons. Find out
what is the most popular sport in the class.
Introduction
After reading
2 Predict: Look at the Contents (page iii) and read
the chapter titles. Do you think the story has a happy
ending? Why or why not? What happens in the story, do
you think?
Chapter 1
After reading
3 Write: Ask students to write a profile of Jim Braddock
for a popular magazine. Students can include
information about his sport, home life and other
interests. Encourage students to use their imaginations
and add some details, such as favorite food, hobby, etc.
Chapters 2–3
After reading
4 Discuss: Ask students to work in small groups. Give
each group a large piece of paper and ask them to
make a list of the problems that the Braddock family
faces at the end of Chapter 3. Then ask groups to
think of a solution for each problem on their new list.
When they have finished, put two groups together
and have them compare their lists of problems and
solutions. Ask them to think about how easy or
difficult each solution would be, and what other
problems the Braddocks might face in the next part of
the book.
Chapters 4–5
After reading
5 Write: When the Braddocks’ gas and electricity are
turned off, Mae takes the boys to her father’s and
Rosy to her sister’s. Ask students to write a page in
Jay’s diary about this day. How does he feel about
being sent away? What did he see on the trip to his
grandfather’s house? How does he feel about his sick
brother and sister? Does he like it at his grandfather’s
house? Jim promised not to send the children away.
Does Jay feel differently about his father now that this
promise has been broken?
Chapters 6–7
After reading
6 Role play: Students work in pairs. Ask them to
prepare and then act out the following conversation:
Student A: You are Jim Braddock. Joe Gould has just
told you that you will fight Cor
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