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Summary: The Contender Book Review
Review: This story takes place in Harlem, New York in the slums of the projects. A young black male named Alfred Brooks faces peer pressure, trust, and the desire to win. Alfred dropped out of high school and started working at the Epstiens. The Epstiens store is a family business of a white, Jewish, and rich family. Alfred has been best friends with James who is starting to hang around with the wrong crowd. James is into drugs and alcohol.
Major, on the other hand, bullied Alfred and others around. Major has two sidekicks named Sonny and Hollis. In the middle of the book, Sonny and Hollis, along with Major, jumped and beat Alfred. Major talked Sonny, Hollis, and James into robbing the Epstiens store. The police came, but only one of them get caught in the robbery.
Later on in the book, the suspense ends and we find out that James is the one that got caught. Major haunts Alfred for the rest of the book. Alfred Brooks has an aunt who took him in after his father left and his mother died. He calls her Aunt Pearl. His friend Henry told him about a gym called Donatelli's Gym.
Alfred decided to see what he could do to become a boxer. Once in the gym, Alfred meets Mr. Donatelli who is the owner of the gym. Mr. Donatelli is a white male who is an experienced trainer in boxing. Mr. Donatelli helped Alfred to discover his goal in life. He explained to Alfred that he would have to get up and run each morning and eat healthy meals. Even though he knew it would be tough he was up for the sacrifice and hard work.
Alfred didn't explain to Aunt Pearl his decision to become a boxer. Each morning when she asked where he was going he just said "I'm going running." Aunt Pearl wasn't pleased with his decision. Even after she found out that he was boxing, she didn't get mad because she remembered when her parents wouldn't allow her to follow her dream. After three amateur fights in the ring, Donatelli suggested that Alfred stop boxing. Alfred took his advice and contemplated on what to do. After talking to his cousin Jeff, Alfred decided to quit boxing and go back to school and work with the children in the community.
Rating: 
Summary: The Contender
Review: The Contender
The protagonist, Alfred Brooks is hanging out with his best friend, James, and James's friends Major and Hollis. The three of them want to break into the Epsteins' grocery store where Alfred works. Although Alfred does not go with them, he forgets about the new alarm system that the Epsteins just installed. James gets caught by the police, and later that night, Major and Hollis beat Alfred up. A man from the neighborhood, Henry, takes Alfred home. Henry mentions that he has been working for Mr. Donatelli, who owns a gym where he trains some famous boxers. Alfred goes to check out the gym and tells Mr. Donatelli that he wants to be special-he wants to be a champion. Donatelli tells him that first, he has to be a contender-someone for whom it is in the realm of possibility to be a champion.
The next night, Henry, Spoon, Jelly Belly, and Mr. Donatelli take Alfred to a boxing match at Madison Square Garden. Mr. Donatelli's most promising boxer, Willie Streeter, is competing in an important match. During the match, Streeter gets hurt, and Donatelli eventually concedes. Although Streeter is angry, Spoon says that Donatelli is the best manager around.
Alfred goes to Coney Island with Major, narrowly missing a run-in with the police for Major's possession of a stolen car. The next few days Alfred is in a stupor and eventually goes back to the gym to get his clothes and equipment. While there, he asks Mr. Donatelli if he could have been a contender. Mr. Donatelli answers that he does not know and that he never knows the answer to that question until he sees how a boxer reacts to getting hurt. Needing to know the answer to that question himself, Alfred begins training again.
During his second fight, Alfred hits his opponent so hard that his opponent gets knocked unconscious. Alfred is sickened by the scene and is upset at the brutality of his own actions. Mr. Epstein, proud and impressed, pays for Alfred's lessons. Spoon tells Alfred that he should consider going to night school, and Alfred later reveals that he is planning on getting his high school diploma.
After his third fight, Donatelli tells Alfred it is time to retire. He says that Alfred does not have the requisite killer instinct. Alfred protests and says that while that may be true, he still doesn't "know," yet, because he has never been injured in the ring. Donatelli eventually lets Alfred persuade him into fighting one more match. Alfred faces an opponent who is bigger, stronger, and better in his final match, but he lasts through all the rounds. Although he loses by majority decision, he knows that the strength and bravery he displayed in the round is something of which to be proud. Satisfied, he retires.
With this information I have given you then you can decide whether you like the book. I personally rate it a 4 and hope you will read it. It is a wonderful book.Sincerely,
Jason Reilly
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Summary: The Contender is a book that shows you the REAL World
Review: The Contender is the first book I ever read that got me to tears... The Contender symbolizes love and friendship which shows real meaning to a good book. I always like to read a book that sets out in the real world with conflicts all around you. Alfred, the main character, lives in a place were he cant run from the bad and has to adopt in this world, were he feels alone at times.... Read this book if you really enjoy books that explain the consequences in a gangster world.
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Summary: The Contender
Review: This book is about a boy named Alfred.He has a bad job at a corner store and he is a highschool dropout. His best friend james is hanging out with some bad people who decide to break into the store Alfred works at. They trigger an alarm and every runs but james who is cought and sent away. Alfred gets jumpt by james new friends because they thought he ment to get them cought at the store. Alfred is sick of his life and decides to be somebody. He goes down to the gym ware Mr Donatelli trains him to be a contender until he realizes something.
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Summary: It is not a 4 star or 3 star book
Review: ...I believe that the book is a really bad book. I think that it is WAY to slow, and that it is not selfdirected. There are some parts that don't even make sense. It is in my worst book list.
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Summary: The Contender
Review: The Contender is about a boy named Alfred. Alfred lives in Harlem in the 1960's. He is 17 years old, quit school, lives with his aunt and works at the grocery store for the Epsteins. His best friend James hangs out in a club with Major, Sonny, and Hollis all three people are bad and try to break into the grocery store where Alfred works. James goes too and they trigger a silent alarm when they break in. The police come and catch James but Major, Sonny, and Hollis get away. Alfred had been talking to them before they broke into the grocery store and slipped up and said that there was still money in the cash register. (Alfred forgot about the silent alarm and didn't mention it.) A few days later Alfred was walking down the street and got jumped by Sonny, Major, and Hollis.
Alfred goes to a boxing gym on top of a dentist's office to learn how to become a fighter. The manager Mr. Donatelli said that he would train him but it wouldn't be easy and that if he ever wanted to be a champion he would first need to be a contender. I liked the book because it showed what it was like in real life Harlem and about the amount of prejudice there is in the world. I would recommend this book to anyone even if you aren't into the Realistic Fiction genre.
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Summary: Very Well Written
Review: We had to read this book for school and I was not at all looking forward to reading it. It looked very boring and complicated. However, once I got started reading, I found it a pleasure to read. The book was very well written and easy to understand. I was able to read it comfortably without finding myself asking questions. Even though I don't like boxing, I think the story was great. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading.
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Summary: The Contender Knocks you Out!
Review: The reason I read The Contender was part of a project for a young adult literature class. Upon finishing the book, I realized what this book could do for young adults. The book is about Alfred who lives the struggles of the inner city. Alfred flees to a gym in a courageous effort to escape his troubles. In the gym, he learns to box. He also learns valuable lessons about his life, and also life in general. The reoccuring theme that is taught to Alfred while at the gym is, "Before you can be a champion, you have to be a contender." Alfred is a high school dropout and has a [bad] job at a grocery store. His best friend is a drug addict who is getting worse and worse. Street kids want to beat him up for something he didn't do. This is when he begins training at Donatelli's Gym. This is where he learns many of his life lessons. This is a brief synopsis of what Alfred is up against when he joins the gym. You will have to read to find out how he changes by going to the gym. This novel is a powerful one for young teens. Especially those in an inner city atmosphere that experiences similar situations. Alfred has to defend himself against thieves, thugs, gangs, and junkies. Something that is all too common in today's urban society. This is a good read for for youngs kids for a lesson in inspiration and growing up. The Contender is a good story on how a scared boy becomes a man.
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Summary: The Contender by Robert Lipsyte
Review: Do you like books with action? Gangsters? How about a book where good people go bad? A book packed with crime and temptation? Well, then this is the book for you. This book is about a kid who quits school, parents die, and his best friend joins a gang. When he is asked to help break into a store that he works for, he realizes that his friend and his gang are not for him. So the main character, Alfred tries to find a purpose to his life. He hears that his best friend James used to box. Alfred decides to give it a shot, and meets the manager. And Alfred finds that there's something special about this person, this Donatelli (Donatelli is the manager of the gym). He tells Alfred to become a contender, and leaves Alfred to figure out what that means. On Alfred's journey, he encounters James' gang, as well as temptation of popcorn, fries, and soda. When Alfred finally becomes a contender, he finds a purpose to his life, and helps James become good again. To find out the details and what a contender is, read Robert Lipsyte's book, The Contender. Six stars out of five! Two thumbs and one finger up!
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Summary: Contender review
Review: I thought that the Contender was just an o.k. book. I do not enjoy reading, at all. Although the book was about boxing it never really caught my attention. It was one of those books that you would consier "dull". I feel that I was very generous to have given this book 2 stars.
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