Author: Joshua C. Cohen
Publication Date: February 17, 2011
Genre: YA Sports Fiction
Copy provided by: Publisher
Summary (via Goodreads): The football field is a battlefield
There’s an extraordinary price for victory at Oregrove High. It is paid on—and off—the football field. And it claims its victims without mercy—including the most innocent bystanders.
When a violent, steroid-infused, ever-escalating prank war has devastating consequences, an unlikely friendship between a talented but emotionally damaged fullback and a promising gymnast might hold the key to a school’s salvation.
Told in alternating voices and with unapologetic truth, Leverage illuminates the fierce loyalty, flawed justice, and hard-won optimism of two young athletes.
Why I read this: Thought it would be quite a different change from my usual read, and I was right.
Plot: Two boys in high school with similar problems, fitting in and trying to find their voice against injustice when there's little support at their school. Definitely a story that will have you cry, scream in rage, and shake your fist at the world. It's about the rougher side of high school and how cruelty can be shaped during it and how that effects others. There's a lot of scenes in this that make it inappropriate for middle school readers and definitely hits into the upper YA region of fiction.
Though rough, this book is written well and presents a situation that is realistic and horrendous and really should be spoken against. A book that would rival Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, only from a male point of view.
Characters: I really loved the diverse characters. Danny being a small gymnast and Kurt a stuttering huge mass of a teenager who seemed to have been born for playing football. And the villians of the story made me want to throw the book across the room in agony of their terrible misdeeds.
Relatability: It's realistic, but harsh, definitely recommended for those that can stomach a gritty novel and maybe not for those who don't want to face that in a book.
Cover Commentary: Definitely speaks to the novel's content.
Rating: 5/5 Roses
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The cover totally creeps me out - I hate veins. I would have to read this in e-book, I'm not sure I could hold the book knowing those veins are on the cover. Ew. LOL.
ReplyDeleteWe recently got this one in our library and I cannot wait to read it. Thank you for the good review
ReplyDeleteI've seen so many great reviews for this one; I think I'm going to have to pick it up because it sounds like something I'd enjoy. I would have completely passed it up too, if I hadn't read so many reviews that talk about how gritty, but great it is.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
Interesting review of what I'm sure is an interesting book. However, thanks for the warning. I'll pass on this, but I'm glad there's a book that brings this topic to the foreground of society's conscience.
ReplyDelete