The Contender - Robert Lipsyte

A 17-year-old Harlem boy struggles to become a champion boxer in this excellent novel (recommended) for use in the early phases of secondary school literature study (Language Arts). \n \nThe breakthrough modern sports novel The Contender shows readers the true meaning of being a hero.\n \nThis 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.\n \nAlfred 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.\n \nSo 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.\n \nALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults * ALA Notable Children's Book * New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age\n