Sarah Deming
How Jewish Boxer Sarah Deming Turned Her Passion Into a YA Novel
Sarah Deming’s new YA novel Gravity tells the story of a Jewish Dominican teen girl named Gravity who becomes a boxer, eventually ending up at the Olympics. It’s based on the true story of boxer Claressa Shields, the youngest boxer at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials who went on to win gold — the first ever in women’s boxing – in the London games. Gravity also draws on Sarah’s own life; like Gravity, she is the daughter of a single Jewish mom. And like Gravity, she is a boxer (Deming no longer boxes professionally, but now works as a coach).
When I had the opportunity to chat with Deming over e-mail, we talked about misconceptions surrounding female boxers and Jews in sports, how all aspects of her identity (female, Jewish, boxer) influenced Gravity, and how boxing “cleared the way” for her career as a writer.
