fraeon
Films
BrowseTop 250
Series
TV ShowsAnimeTop 250 TVTop 100 Anime
Games
BrowseTop 100
Books
BooksMangaTop 125 BooksTop 100 Manga
For youTrendingTier ListsThe ArchiveLeaderboard
Log inSign up free
fraeon

Everything you watch, play and read — tracked, rated and remembered in one library.

Explore

  • Films
  • TV
  • Anime
  • Games
  • Books
  • Manga

Discover

  • Trending
  • Leaderboard
  • Find people
  • Lists
  • Tier lists

Company

  • Tour
  • About
  • Community guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Contact

© 2026 fraeon. All rights reserved. ·

Metadata from TMDB, RAWG, Jikan & Open Library. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Questions or ideas? mehmet@avortas.com

HomeFeedProfile
The Contender

The Contender

by Robert Lipsyte

1967Juvenile fictionBoxingBoxers (Sports)FictionSports
4.5
Open Library
Open Library

First lines

He waited on the stoop until twilight, pretending to watch the sun melt into the dirty gray Harlem sky.

He waited on the stoop until twilight, pretending to watch the sun melt into the dirty gray Harlem sky.

About this book

Before you can be a champion,you have to be 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 man — that last desperate struggle to get back on your feet when you thought you were down for the count.

Themes & subjects

Juvenile fictionBoxingBoxers (Sports)FictionSportsAfrican Americans
First published 1967

Author

Robert Lipsyte

First published

1967

Pages

182

Read time

≈ 5h

Editions

17

Language

English

Publisher

HarperCollins

ISBN

9780064471527

Where to buy

TR
Amazon Bookshop

Reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to write one from the Log screen.

Quotes

No quotes yet.

Discussions

Similar books

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice (fictitious character : carroll), fiction · British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll

1865

A Christmas Carol

Children's fiction · Christmas, fiction

A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens

1843

Wuthering Heights

form:novel · genre:tragedy

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

1846

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

adventure and adventurers · Adventure stories

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain

1876

The Scarlet Letter

Fiction · Puritans

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

1800

Robinson Crusoe

Crusoe, robinson (fictitious character), fiction · British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author)

Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe

1686

Hamlet

performing arts · Stage history

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

1603

Emma

Social life and customs · Mate selection

Emma

Jane Austen

1815

Oliver Twist

Bildungsromans · Boys

Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens

1822

A Tale of Two Cities

British · British and irish fiction (fictional works by one author)

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

1800

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Witches · Spanish language materials

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

L. Frank Baum

1899

Treasure Island

Fiction · Treasure Island (Imaginary place)

Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson

1880

Little Women

Romans · Jeunes filles

Little Women

Louisa May Alcott

1848

Macbeth

Drama · Regicides

Macbeth

William Shakespeare

1508

Fight Club

Fiction · Millennialism

Fight Club

Chuck Palahniuk

1996

Switch Bitch

flashback · olfaction

Switch Bitch

Roald Dahl

1974

The Abysmal Brute

Fiction · Boxers (Sports)

The Abysmal Brute

Jack London

1913

The power of one

Fiction · World War, 1939-1945

The power of one

Bryce Courtenay

1989