Contender: The chosen by Taran Matharu
Hodder Children's Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781444938975.
(Age: 12+) Recommended. The chosen, first in the Contender
series by Tara Matharu (author of the Summoner
series) was a convoluted trip to a world where the suspension of
disbelief is entirely necessary. With a higher power taking control
of the lives of six boys from reform school and the evident
resurrection of more than a few prehistoric species, Cade Carter's
world is about to change irrevocably.
Convicted of a crime he didn't commit and losing not only his
full-ride scholarship but the trust of both of his parents, Cade is
sentenced to twelve months in a detention facility with other
delinquent juveniles, forced to live in fear and silence - anything
to keep the target off his back. But things are not as they seem
when he is wrenched yet again from life as he knows it and
introduced to a never-before-known level of terror - that of being a
contender. Just what that means, Cade doesn't know and he doesn't
have much time to think given he's too busy fighting for his life as
monsters emerge from the deepest recesses of his mind. Seeing living
dinosaurs might be a palaeontologist's dream, but for a boy
desperate to keep his life it's more of a nightmare. Separated from
the others, Cade must exercise his intellect as well as his physical
endurance in order to save his own life, and possibly even that of
the Earth itself.
With high stakes and misunderstood young offenders, Matharu presents
an action novel very similar to a video game. As the novel goes on
the characters become more fleshed out and their problems more
familiar. Eric, the broodiest and most frightening guy in the school,
softens, revealing his story and how he ended up in the misfit
school. Jim, always having been under Finch's power, finds the
courage to stand up for his beliefs. Cade, always blending into the
background in an effort not to be noticed, assumes the role of
leader - his intellect and strength guiding forces for the group in
the battle to come.
I would recommend to boys aged twelve and up interested in video
games and history.
Kayla Gaskell