shabbycoatlibrarian 's review for:

The Contender by Robert Lipsyte

5.0

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I first read The Contender for a post-grad class on young adult literature about eight years ago. I chose it for a local book club meeting last month since it was my turn to pick. Since there were several men in the group who hadn’t read a lot of fiction, I wanted to choose something that would not only appeal to both men and women in general, but not be too difficult (while also making some good points and hopefully inspiring fun discussion). There’s a lot I could say about this book. And I actually had handouts and notes and all sorts of fun things that I compiled from my teaching days. But simply put, it’s a great book not only to read but also to use as a teaching tool on the high school level. I highly recommend it for that purpose. (Note: most people would spin this as a piece of sports fiction, but it really isn’t about the sport. It’s a human interest story.)