The Contender
by Robert Lipsyte
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Book Summary Information
Author: Robert LipsyteEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Published: 1987-04-01
ISBN: 0064470393
Number of pages: 176
Reading Level: Young Adult
Publisher: HarperTeen
Book Reviews of The Contender
Book Review: The Contender Loses Steam Along the Way!
Summary: 3 Stars
Robert Lipsyte's novel, The Contender, is written for pre-teens and struggling students. The story is about Alfred Brooks, a young Harlem teen who works at a grocery store and discovers boxing through Donatelli, a successful coach. Until then, Alfred has dropped out of high school at 11th grade to work a dead-end job at family owned supermarket in Harlem. It's not until his friends Henry and James get in trouble that he decides to take up boxing with Donatelli who sees a contender much like the film, On the Waterfront starring Marlon Brando as a man who could have been a contender. Alfred's story can relate to the youth today and it's not so much about winning as it is about getting in shape and striving for something. Alfred begins his journey to be a boxer by training himself with Donatelli's help and belief in him to be the next contender despite all the risks of physical damage. It's not until Alfred starts striving to become a boxer that he becomes more alive in character and somebody to root for in life.
Summary of The Contender
Alfred's life is going nowhere fast. He's a high-school dropout working at a grocery store. His best friend is drifting behind a haze of drugs and violence, and now some street punks are harassing him for something he didn't do. Feeling powerless and afraid, Alfred gathers up the courage to visit Donatelli's Gym, the neighborhood's boxing club. He wants to be a champion--on the streets and in his own life. Alfred doesn't quite understand when Mr. Donatelli tells him, "It's the climbing that makes the man. Getting to the top is an extra reward." In the end, he learns that a winner isn't necessarily the one standing when the fight is over. Teens and adults alike will be knocked out by this powerful story of how a frightened boy becomes a man.you have to be a contender.
Alfred Brooks is scared. He's a highschool dropout and his grocery store job is leading nowhere. 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 man -- that last desperate struggle to get back on your feet when you thought you were down for the count.
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