The Contender

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Summary: Melissa's Review of "The Contender"
Review: I really liked this book because it caught my attention, and it was fun to read. I did come across a couple of confusing words, but other than that, it was cool. I really like how Alfred had a lot of courage to find and help James, even though Alfred could have gone to jail. I like this book so much I would read it again, even though I am not a book person. I also thought it was very brave of Alfred to stick with his best friend, James.

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Summary: My Review
Review: The Contender, for all you people who haven't read it, is about a boy named Alfred and what he goes through in New York City and how he wants to make it in boxing. I think that this book is a great motivational book. In my opinion, the author captures the behavior of the characters beautifully. My favorite character was Henry. He was Alfred's manager. Sort of. Henry always was happy even when the book got kind of gloomy. The Contender's feeling was mostly about the character's trouble but yet there was still an optimistic feeling about it because Alfred wouldn't give up. The fight's were written in great detail. There were exactly four fights in the book, and Alfred won three of them. That was a happy thing. But I felt that Alfred could be a little more mean. He felt remorse every time he would beat somebody in a fight. I reccomend this book for anyone who wants to read a good fight or read about a good party.

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Summary: The Contender
Review: The story Began with Alfred trying to fing James. Well he found James hanging out with his "punk friends" As aunt pearl would call them. When Alfred walked in on them James friends started making fun of Alfred. James friends wanted to rob Epsteins and they figured the only way around it was Alfred. Before it was over with they ended up robbing the store. Afterwards, Alfred got banked by james friends because he didnt tell them about the new alarm. After Alfred was banked he got tired of being bullied around so he decided to take up boxing. Alfreds manager Donatelli really helped him out. After taking a couple lessons, Alfred decided boxing was too hard and decided to quit. Well, he didn't quit for long. He got back into boxing and later on started thinking about being a contender.

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Summary: The Contender
Review: The Contender is a book about a guy named Alfred Brooks who has a troublesome friend that he helps when he gets in trouble. Alfred ends up getting attacked and after this happens, he decides to go to Donatelli's gym. When he gets there, he meets a coach and becomes a boxer in training.Later he gets his chance to fight.What I liked about the book is that it keeps your attention, and it is something diffrent.

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Summary: The Contender is da bomb!
Review: The book The Contender was very well written. One of the main reasons I enjoyed it was because it showed that a normal person can do what they want as long as they put their mind to it. The writer keeps your interest throughout the book and keeps you waiting for what will happen next. The worst thing about this book was the ending: it could've had a better ending. Maybe end it at Donateli's gym. Besides the ending, I recommend this book to anyone who would like to read it.

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Summary: A winner of a book....
Review: The Contender by Robert Lipsyte is a novel about Alfred Brooks, a young man from Harlem, looking to better his life. He decides to be a boxer and hopes that one day he will become famous. He learns that it's the fight, not the win, that makes the man. I enjoyed this book because of the many morals it expresses. Although this book may seem like life-less paper smeared with black ink, it truly comes alive and grabs your interest.

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Summary: The Contender
Review: The novel begins when Alfred, the main character, goes to the clubroom to wait on his friend James. They were going to go to the movies like every other Friday. Unfortuatly, James made a few new friends, but not the right ones. Major and Hollis were their names. James told Alfred about them going to rob Mr. Epstiens' store. James, Major, and Hollis left when suddenly Alfred remembered about the invisible alarm. The alarm went off and James was arrested, but the others got away. That night Alfred was walking around the block when out of the blue, Major and Hollis ganged up on Alfred. Alfred was knocked out cold, and Henry saw Alfred and carried him home. One day Alfred decided to become a famous boxer. He wound up in Donetelli's Gym. From then on out, Alfred became a star. He won 4 matches and then Donetelli thought it would be best for him to quit. A few weeks later Alfred found James all banged up bleeding to death from glass so Alfred took James to the hospital and they became friends again.

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Summary: Pleased Roanoker
Review: The book, The Contender, was amazing book and was written really well. Robert Lipsyte is a wonderful writer and this book has made me want to read more writings from him. The book taught a lot of interesting things about boxing and information on relief problems. The ending could have been better, but other than that it was a great book. I would like to thank my reading teacher, Mark Farrell, for picking this book for my peers and I to read!

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Summary: The Contender
Review: In this novel, "The Contender" was and all around good book. You might believe that this is a guy's kind of book, but even though I am a girl, it cought my attention. It was based upon a young african american named Alfred Brooks becoming a boxer. All and all this book was a great book!

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Summary: Timmy's Review of the hit book, The Contender
Review: The novel, The Contender, strives to inform you of life in the 1960's! Robert Lipsye, the author, chooses the express the novel through three point of views, the first being in the life of a drugee amd his tolerance for a certain drug, the second being the fight between two friends to overcome and defeat this tolerance, and the third being in the life of a young man, Alfred, that had set his goals higher than any other in order to fulfill his dream of being a well-respected fighter in the great city of Harlem. Of course, writing such a great story came as no shock to me based on the fact that Robert Lipsyte had graduated from Columbia University, one of the top schools in the Ive-League, and then went on to be an author for the New York Times, constantly writing about such stars as Muhammad Ali, the boxer that is responsible for Robert writng The Contender in the first place. I enjoyed this book because it has the ability to keep your attention every step of the way. Reading about the ups and downs in Alfred's life made me feel like I was actually right there in Harlem when all of this took place back in the 60's! On a scale from 1 to 5, I'd have to give The Conteder an easy 4 because of everything that had happened in the book that had had me laughing at one point, mad at another, and then sad, and then right back to laughing. The Contender is definately a winner!