Thursday, April 10, 2014

Leverage

Leverage
By Joshua C. Cohen Penguin Group, Inc. ISBN: 978052542306
Leverage is a fictional story of a high school athletic program that may as well be a major university. Performance enhancing drugs, brutal hazing rituals, and sadistic teenagers surround the two protagonists,  Kurt Brodsky and Danny Meehan. Kurt is a new transfer/recruit to Oregrove High School (where football is religion), who is “a physical specimen and an animal on the field” in the eyes of his coaches.  However, Kurt’s stuttering problem diminishes his football prowess and his peers often assume he is just another dumb jock. The novel’s second and also detached narrator, Danny, is a tiny freshman who expresses a fear for his life, as any 9th grader would in this intense football-fueled environment. Leverage depicts the struggle of two boys attempting to fit into a culture that promotes bullying, violence, and winning with little thought or consideration of the consequences. No one is immune from the football team’s wrath--even a gymnast and a friend of Danny’s, Ronnie, tragically falls victim to the brutal bullying and hazing that occurs at Oregrove High. In Leverage, unlikely friendships form even when considering the highly contentious relationships that exist at Oregrove High. This is a timely book that really connects to a male audience and touches on very “real” issues that a young man experience in a testosterone-driven culture.

Quantitative: Lexile Level--870L; ATOS--5.2
Qualitative: Told in alternating narrative voices, this book may prove difficult for a more inexperienced reader. Chapters alternate between Kurt and Danny’s points of view, allowing the reader to see what’s going on at Oregrove High through different lenses. Students may struggle with piecing the narratives together in order to make sense of the plot, but part of the beauty of this narrative style is that allows the reader to connect to both the buff athlete and the demure underdog. The realistic high school dialogue which includes slang and profanity makes this a book more appropriate for the upper grades, but the vocabulary itself could be accessible by junior high level students. With cultural references to YouTube and other modern media, students can really connect with the social media elements the book presents. Leverage touches on complex issues such as: bullying, hazing, performance enhancement drugs, adult responsibility, disabilities, teen violence, and teen suicide.

Content Area: English; Health--Healthy Relationships; Physical Education
Curriculum Suggestions: I see Leverage being used in a 9th grade health class. With the book’s emphasis on bullying, teen violence, and steroids, Leverage would prove a useful tool when addressing these topics in a high school health class. The book is particularly appropriate for 9th graders since incoming freshmen tend to lack the tools needed to cope with issues such as the ones presented in Leverage. Teachers could use Leverage as a means of introducing real-world examples of similar situations such as the incident between two Miami Dolphins football players. Other books to explore: Friday Night Lights, Gym Candy.

Common Core Standards:  RL.9/10.1-6
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Personal Thoughts: Leverage is a great book for boys, especially those interested in sports related narratives. I have recommended this book to many boys and they come back saying the same thing, “I couldn’t put it down!” This book really captures the fanatic nature of football, a billion dollar industry in the United States.

*Meets the “Reading for Pleasure HS/MS” requirement
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