The Contender
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · February 13, 2018
A Young Adult pick for readers exploring The Contender.
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- Who it’s for
- A grounded boxing story finds its force in the effort it takes to become a contender.
- Themes
- Perseverance, Hope, Drug addiction
- Genres
- Sports Stories, African American YA, Coming of Age
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For younger readers: Rivals, Weirdo, The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze
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Start with this bookAbout this book
The breakthrough modern sports novel The Contender shows readers the true meaning of being a hero. This acclaimed novel by celebrated sportswriter Robert Lipsyte, the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in YA fiction, is the story of a young boxer in Harlem who overcomes hardships and finds hope in the ring on his path to becoming a contender. Alfred Brooks is scared. He’s a high-school dropout, and his grocery store job is leading nowhere.
Continue reading
His best friend is sinking further and further into drug addiction. Some street kids are after him for something he didn’t even do. So Alfred begins going to Donatelli’s Gym, a boxing club in Harlem that has trained champions. There he learns it’s the effort, not the win, that makes the boxer—that before you can be a champion, you have to be a contender. ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults * ALA Notable Children’s Book * New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
The Work Behind Winning
A grounded boxing story finds its force in the effort it takes to become a contender.
Come here for
- Harlem boxing and a young fighter looking for direction
- A sports story centered on effort, not just victory
Expect
- Hardship balanced by hope
- A warm, clear-eyed path toward finding purpose
Where it sits
| Coming of Age | 81% |
|---|---|
| Sports Stories | 79% |
| African American YA | 49% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- YA Classics
- Coming of Age
- Diverse YA Fiction
- Historical YA
Show all 8 publisher categories
- African American YA
- Friendship for Teens
- Peer Pressure for Teens
- Prejudice & Racism for Teens
- Authors
- Robert Lipsyte
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- February 13, 2018
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Perseverance · Hope · Drug addiction
- Reading lane
- YA Classics