#3--Leverage

Bibliographic Information

Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen. Dutton Juvenile. (2011).

Price: $17.99 for hardback

Pages: 304 for hardback

Plot Summary

Danny Meehan is a talented high school gymnast who is determined to go to college on a full-ride gymnastics scholarship in order to prove to his father that gymnastics is worthwhile. One of the hardest workers on the team, Danny resents new recruit Ronnie as Danny and Ronnie are constantly being compared to one another as they are both quite small. While Ronnie wishes to be a good athlete he is also sensitive and a bit naïve making Danny shy away from him. But perhaps the ultimate reason why Danny doesn’t like Ronnie is because the jocks on the football team constantly bully and tease the two of them.

Transfer student Kurt Brodsky is, like Danny, a hard-working athlete although he is easily three times Danny’s size as Kurt is a football player. Plucked from an ill-funded  high school Kurt knows that if he works hard he can make a name for himself at his new school and forget his troubled past. Bounced around the foster care system Kurt has finally landed into a home which, while not ideal, is his best one yet. As such, Kurt is willing to do almost anything to ensure that he gets a shot at a good college.

Danny and Kurt form a strange friendship when Kurt sees Danny performing a daring move at a gymnastics meet and decides that he would like to learn how to perform a backflip. Danny agrees to teach him knowing that having a brawny football player on your side is always a good thing. While their friendship solidifies things become progressively worse for Danny as three star football players are determined to make his life miserable. Things reach a tipping point when one day Danny and Kurt see them commit an unspeakably evil act against Ronnie. Now they must decide whether to speak up and risk their reputations and lives or to let things lie.

Critical Evaluation

While difficult to get through Leverage provides a story that needs to be told. Although the stories of female rape seem to be constantly in the public eye those of male rape are not. As such, it is important that books, like Leverage, are written on the topic so that people can become more educated on the matter and help prevent future rapes. It can certainly be argued that Leverage is unnecessarily graphic but if it were not so I believe many readers would be confused over the abuse suffered by Ronnie, Danny, and Bruce especially as there are plenty of people who believe that male rape is nigh impossible. As a result, the details in Leverage serve the purpose of letting people know what situations can lead to male rape and what it is. However, while the novel centers on a rape scene there are other important scenes in the book as well. Kurt’s journey is intriguing as he must decide whether or not to speak up when he is only now starting to have a relatively normal life. In speaking up he knows that not only will he have to confront his horrific past but that the student body will most likely learn of it as well. Danny’s journey is equally interesting as he tries to convince his father that his passion for gymnastics is legitimate. Danny must walk the fine line of being part of a team while avoiding the bigger, abusive jocks in the locker room. He, too, is afraid to speak up as he is knows that if he should what was done to his teammate will also be done to him.

Perhaps one of the most important (and rare) elements in Leverage is the relationship between Kurt, a powerfully built star football player, and Danny, a small gymnast. Together, the two of them form a bond as they both appreciate each other’s athletic prowess, ethics, and friendship. Cohen has created one of those rare YA sports novels that shows that football players can be more than brutal, stupid thugs while also showing the value of other lesser-known sports. Ultimately, while Leverage might not be for everyone it is an important book that will interest plenty of readers, particularly male athletes.

Reader’s Annotation

When a series of cruel pranks escalates, causing the suicide of a ninth grade student, the up-and-coming star football player Kurt and dedicated gymnast Danny must decide whether or not to speak up.

About the Author

First time novelist Joshua C. Cohen was inspired to write Leverage when he read a news story about victims of abuse being turned on for reporting it. He originally wanted to be a professional gymnast but realized in college that he didn’t have the proper body type for the sport. He is currently a professional dancer and actor touring with famous companies like MOMIX.

To learn more about Joshua Cohen visit his website here.

Genre

Realistic fiction, Sports story

Readalikes

Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte

·         Also about football players covering up abuse

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

·         Another YA book about football although less dark than Leverage

Payback Time by Carl Deuker

·         A YA mystery involving a football player

Tags

10^th grade, abuse in foster care, favoritism, football, foster care, goth, gymnastics, high school, male rape, Minnesota, rape, single father, stuttering

Awards Won/Lists On

2011—Cybils Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction

2012—YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults

Professional Reviews

Booklist (starred review)

Common Sense Media

Kirkus Reviews

Publishers Weekly

School Library Journal

Booktalk Ideas

Kurt is Told That…

·         Football team will take care of him (22)

·         Homecoming inspires hope in others (105)

·         But what’s the truth?

We need to take matters into our own hands, says Bruce (61)

Gymnastics is a team sport too! (73, 75)

Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness

This could be used to help teens who have lost a friend due to suicide as well as those that have experienced severe bullying, torture, and rape. It could also be used to educate teens on what constitutes male rape.

Reading Level/Interest Level

Reading Level: 5^th grade

Interest Level: 9^th-12^th grade

These levels are according to AR Bookfinder

Challenge Issues

This book includes the following potentially controversial elements:

·         Abusive father

·         Adult buying teens alcohol

·         Adults encouraging steroid use

·         Alcoholic father

·         Attempted murder

·         Bullying

·         Ethnic slurs

·         Favoritism between sons

·         Homosexual slurs

·         Mention of sex

·         Police officer physically abusing a teen & using intimidation tactics

·         Profanity

·         Racial slurs

·         Rape

·         Shooting guns while intoxicated

·         Single father

·         Special treatment for football players

·         Steroid use

·         Suicide

·         Torture

·         Underage drinking

Librarians can point out that while this book contains a multitude of controversial elements it also shows some football players in a positive light (such as Terrence and Kurt) which seems to be rare in YA literature. Additionally it contains a positive male role model in the form of Coach Nelson and discusses the importance of friendship and standing up for what is right.

Why Was This Included?

I read this because I was on a reconsideration committee for it however I was also interested in reading more about the world of sports as I have never participated on sports teams.