The breakthrough modern sports novel The Contender shows readers the true meaning of being a hero. This 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. 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 boxer-that before you can be a champion, you have to be a contender. ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults * ALA Notable Children's Book * New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

The Contender

Mike has his junior year well under control. He's got a solid group of friends. He's dating Lori, one of the hottest girls in school. And Coach Cody has all but given him the starting spot as the Ridgedale Rangers' varsity center fielder. And then Oscar Ramirez shows up. Oscar is an amazing ballplayer, as talented at the plate as he is in center field, and it's not long before Mike loses control. He's on the bench, he's getting into fights, and he finds himself in weekend detention with Katherine Herold, the most mysterious, abrasive, alluring girl in school. Mike is lost, confused, and looking to Coach Cody to help him get back on track. But the coach has his own set of rules for Mike to play by, and the decisions Mike makes are going to impact more than just the starting lineup. Robert Lipsyte, one of the most celebrated writers in young adult literature, has crafted a subtly intense tale of adolescent struggle, a sports story about much more than sports-one that shows us how the moves one makes off the field matter even more than the moves one has on it.

Center Field

Sonny's been an outsider all his life. He has never fit into either world: the Moscondagas on the Reservation see him as white; whites see him as Indian. So far, Sonny's managed to harness his anger -- what he calls "the monster" -- in the boxing ring. But Sonny wants out of the Res. He's headed for New York City, where nobody can tell him what to do. Sonny doesn't count on stepping into the middle of a drug war when he gets there -- or on tangling with a tough Harlem boxer-turned-cop named Alfred Brooks. Brooks seems to think that Sonny's got the talent to make it to the top -- to be a contender. But first Sonny's got to learn to be smart, take control of his life, and beat the monster. Only it isn't as easy as it sounds....

The Brave

What's it mean to think team? It means you don't talk team business with anybody who isn't on the team. It means whatever happens inside the team stays inside. It means you can only trust a brother Raider. Any questions?At Nearmont High School, football stars are treated like royalty, and Matt Rydek has just ascended to the throne. He's got it all: hot girls, chill friends, plenty of juice to make him strong, and a winning team poised to go all the way. If he can keep his eye on the ball now, his future will be set. But when the team turns on one of its own, should Matt play by Raiders rules, or should he go long alone?

Raiders Night

Michael Jordan was a late bloomer. Cut from the Varsity basketball team in high school when he first tried out, Michael nonetheless became the best basketball player that ever lived-Rare Air Jordan. The true story of how Michael Jordan achieved this amazing level of success as a basketball player-and as the high king of commercial endorsements-underscores one of the new roles of athletes in our society today. Here's a fascinating look at both the evolution of basketball and Michael Jordan's stunning climb to the peak of his sport, and his season in minor league baseball.

Michael Jordan - A Life Above the Rim

A fight for his people. Sonny Bear, the Tomahawk Kid, has a championship left hook. But his boxing career's going nowhere, and he's ready to hang it up. Then his manager, tough ex-cop Alfred Brooks, and his "writer, " college boy Martin Malcolm Witherspoon, scheme Sonny into a glitzy Las Vegas match. Suddenly he's everybody's darling and headed for Hollywood stardom. But fame isn't all it's cracked up to be, and Sonny needs to make the fight of his life to decide where he really belongs.

The Chief

Tom is a smart, talented loner with a chip on his shoulder and a big secret: an imaginary twin on another planet. Eddie is Tom's opposite, a friendly, athletic kid who always looks on the good side. Tom worries sometimes: does confiding in Eddie mean he's nuts? The truth is even crazier than that. Eddie and his planet are just as real as Tom and his Earth, but fifty-some years in the past. And the twins are caught up in an alien master plan that might just mean Earth-both Earths-will be destroyed. Switching places and identities, "slipping" between planets and across decades, a desperate escape, and the unraveling of deeper secrets leave Tom and Eddie aware of the danger they're facing and the tools they can use to overcome it.

The Twinning Project

The acclaimed book behind the new major motion picture Measure of a Man, starring Donald Sutherland, Judy Greer, Luke Wilson, and Blake Cooper. A New York Times Outstanding Book and ALA Best of the Best Books for Young AdultsFor Bobby Marks, summer does not equal fun. While most people are happy to take off their heavy jackets and long pants, Bobby can't even button his jeans or reach over his belly to touch his toes. Spending the summer at Rumson Lake is sheer torture. This particular summer promises to be worse than usual. His parents can't stop fighting. His best friend, Joanie, goes home to New York City and won't tell him why. Dr. Kahn, a rich, stingy estate owner who hires him to manage an enormous lawn, is working him to death. And to top it off, a local bully won't stop torturing him. Bobby is about to find out just how terrifying and exhilarating one fat summer can be.

One Fat Summer

In any race, there are drivers and, at the front of the pack, there are racers. In the final laps, it's the racer who moves his car through the sweet spot, picks off the competition, and drives through a hole to win. In Kyle's family, his older brother, Kris, has always been the racer, born and bred to it, like his father and grandfather and great-grandfather before him. And that's just fine with Kyle; he's got other things to do. Now Kris is out of commission, injured, and Kyle has no choice but to drive. Does he want to drive just long enough to keep Kris's seat warm, or does he want to race-and win? On the heels of Raiders Night, Yellow Flag is a pulse-pounding look inside the elite world of NASCAR racing, from award-winning novelist and sportswriter Robert Lipsyte.

Yellow Flag

A biography of the American Indian known as one of the best all-round athletes in history for his accomplishments as an Olympic medal winner and as an outstanding professional football and baseball player.

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