Wow. Wow! The young
adult book Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen was one of the most disturbing
books I’ve read, yet also one of the most captivating.
The boys on the football team are
gods at Oregrove High School and the coaches enhance their idol-like status by
providing them with steroids. An unhealthy rivalry begins when the gymnastics
coach sets out to prove to the football establishment that his boys are just as
strong if not stronger than the football players.
After a one-on-one challenge in
which a gymnast wins in a leg lift competition, the humiliated football captains
set out to prove their strength by bullying the smaller gymnasts. The brutish
football players, who can do no wrong in anyone’s eyes, cruelly attack one of
the smaller gymnasts, which results in a horrifying turn of events. And here is
where the book gets disturbing, so much so that I don’t know if I would even
recommend it to a teen. It is hard to read and takes some strong emotions to
plow through a few of the scenes. There is plenty of cursing, sex, and demented
characters, so consider yourself warned!
I won’t spoil the story, but I
will say, amid the pain there is a beautiful, deep, loyal friendship that
develops between a talented gymnast who is a witness to his teammate's abuse and
a stuttering football player, who is in foster care after a rocky and troubling
past, trying to find his way at a new school and on a football team full of
egomaniacs.
It’s not until the last few pages
of the book when you finally learn if evil or good prevails. And, I say again,
wow – I loved this ferocious, gritty story.
