The Contender

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. 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
Coming of Age Story: Follow Alfred Brooks, a high-school dropout with a dead-end job, as he searches for a path away from the streets and discovers what he’s truly made of.Overcoming Hardship: With his best friend lost to addiction and a local gang after him, Alfred must learn to use his fear as fuel and fight for a future he can believe in.A Story of Friendship: Explores the powerful and heartbreaking bond between Alfred and his best friend James, as one chooses the discipline of the ring and the other the dangers of the street.Classic Young Adult Fiction: A recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award, this timeless and acclaimed novel has inspired generations of readers to become contenders in their own lives.