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Nov 18, 2011

Lora rated it:

Before beginning, I just want to apologize to anyone who reads this review. It won't really help you decide whether to read this book or not. Despite the fact that I've taken a fair amount of time to collect my thoughts and calm down, my head is still laden with what I've read and I'm unable to express my feelings in the way I'd normally have it. This review is somewhat vague and most of it probably won't mean anything unless you've read this book. So for that, I apologize.

Going in, More...

22 comments like (34 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2012

Cara rated it:

This semester I'm taking a physics course and the whole idea of leverage is a cool concept. Oddly enough it makes me see the whole story in a different way. How something on its own may not have the power, but you just add some leverage and man do you see the impact. That great concept is the perfect title for this story.

The story is told by two boys who go to the same high school. Danny is a small kid but works his butt off on being an excellent gymnast. Kurtis is a massive guy tha More...

6 comments like (10 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2011

Laura rated it:

Leverage. We all search for it at work, home, and life whether we realize it or not. And we all possess leverage whether we realize it or not. It is how we choose to use that power, influence, and leverage that matters. How we act, respond, and move through life that counts.

Leverage by Joshua Cohen is told in two heartbreaking voices—Kurt Brodsky and Danny Meehan. Two young, strong athletes trying to carve out a spot in high school and the future with football and gymnastics. More...

10 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2011

Terri rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2011

Jess rated it:

LEVERAGE, by Joshua C. Cohen is not my usual kind of read but in the end it left me inspired and wanting to make a difference. Cohen brought the very real problems of bullying to life almost flawlessly.

When I started this book, I wanted the prank wars that little synopsis promised to begin right away, and I was shocked at the kind of pranks that these high school characters created, they didn't seem real but Cohen's writing sucked you into a story that that gives you so many mixed emo More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 04, 2011

Amanda rated it:

4 1/2 stars

Leverage is a story told in 2 different POV's by two boys on the opposite spectrum of the high school popularity chain. Kurt comes from a troubled past but becomes the star football player, Danny is a small fraile gymnaist who keeps to himself. Both boys witness a big prank-gone-wrong bullying scene and they try to bury it within themselves so they also don't get tormented.
This is a story of bullying to extremes and the way football is played up in some high schools More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2011

Patricia rated it:

It is hard to know where to exactly begin... Joshua C. Cohen's debut novel is anything and everything BUT disappointing. I honestly cannot come up with a negative thing to say about this amazing, outstanding, one of kind, unique novel. There is so much to say about this book that I am going to have to break it down into parts....

To start, a basic overview...
Kurt is the new football star at Oregrove High School. Danny is on the Oregrove gymnastics team. Both boys have a pas More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2012

Sarah (Y.A. Love) rated it:

Review originally posted at Y.A. Love

Joshua C. Cohen is an author to watch! Leverage is an edgy, emotional, gripping debut. It will appeal to those who enjoy sports, but it’s about more than sports. It’s about loyalty, courage, and standing up for what’s right, even when the odds are against you.

Kelly at Stacked has been telling me to read this for months, but I can’t say why I put it off for so long. I’m actually made at myself for waiting so long to read Leverage. More...

9 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2011

BookChic rated it:

This is one REALLY intense book. Like, for reals intense. I had to actually put it down several times because I just needed a breather from it all. Cohen pulls no punches in this 400+ page novel. It's realistic, raw, heartbreaking as well as uplifting (well, in the end), and insanely intense.

If you know me at all, I am not a football fan. Yeah, I have teams I root for (Redskins and Steelers) but that's only based on familial loyalty (Mom is from Pittsburgh) or geographical proximity More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 09, 2012

Abby rated it:

Danny's a sophomore gymnast, destined for state championships and scholarships... and resigned to a life of being pushed around by bigger guys. Kurt's a gigantic tank of a football player with major scars, both physical and emotional. When the steroid-infused captains of the football team push bullying to a deadly degree, an unlikely friendship between Kurt and Danny might be the only thing that can set things to rights.

This is a stunning debut. We have two distinctly realistic guy More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Christina rated it:

Wow, this book was not at all what I was expecting. I guess I was expecting a formulaic sports story along the lines of "high school athletes face challenges at home, are redeemed by sports." That's how sports stories go for older children, and that's kind of what I wanted to read on Superbowl Sunday.

What I got was something less sports-oriented (football and gymnastics were more the setting for the story than the plot), and something much, much more intense and comp More...

0 comments like

Dec 20, 2011

Curtis rated it:

I liked the book Leverage. It was a very good book that cought my attenion,and making me want to read more of the book. I liked how the book was on more than one character in the book. I liked that the new kid Kurt was acting up in class. Because then i knew that it was his first day of school because i could tell he was nervous and scared becuase it was his first day of school.

I liked how the book talked about more than one person. It talked about a new kid who didnot really know an More...

0 comments like

Oct 06, 2011

Brenda rated it:

Leverage is one of the books that once you start reading, you can not stop and when you are finished, the book and the books characters stay with you. You will find yourself wanting to share the book with others. You will find yourself screaming at the unjust situations the characters had to endure to finally find salvation, hope and courage.

However, this is not a book to share with everyone. The scenes described in the book are raw and very Intense. This is not a book that I wou More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 23, 2011

Sharon rated it:

I'm not normally into sports novels, but I have to admit my curiosity was piqued when I overheard another librarian describing Leverage as one of the most brutal YA reads they had experienced. I've always had an affinity for courageous YA books that tread disturbing little-plumbed territory, and I was proud to see that not only does this book belong in that fine category, but that it's also an excellent read.

Like most good sports fiction, this isn't really a novel about sports---it's m More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 14, 2011

Sherry rated it:

Kurt Brodsky is recruited as a junior to attend Oregrove High School by Coach Briggs, who hungers for a state football championship. Kurt has grown up in foster care and has had some very bad experiences in his life, not the least of which is molestation by adults. In fact, at his last group home, Mr. Sandborn, aka “Crud Bucket”, was especially horrendous and evil in his abuse, killing Kurt’s friend, Lamar. Kurt escapes from his problems by lifting weights and becoming stronger, with revenge as More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 18, 2011

Cornmaven rated it:

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0 comments like

Apr 19, 2011

Jackie rated it:

When a feud over weight training room privileges escalates between the gymnastics team and the football at the high school, a question of morality, ethics, and doing the right thing becomes all encompassing for members of these teams. Danny, a promising gymnast and Kurt, a gifted football player who has seen way too much in his young life, create a bond that gives them the strength to stand up to murderous, lying bullies.

Danny and his teammate, Bruce are witness to a brutal attack o More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 17, 2011

Melanie added it

Danny is small, but powerful. His diminutive size may keep others in the high school hierarchy from taking him seriously, but in the gymnastics world Danny is well on his way to the top. As a sophomore, he already has his eye on championships and a full-ride scholarship. Danny trains at school, during the off season, and at every optional Saturday practice. What Danny lacks in size he makes up for in will power and dedication.

Kurt is a giant. As a fullback on the football team, he is More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 20, 2011

Sherry rated it:

There's not too many books out there that deal with young men, sports, steroids, and brutality, but this book hits all of these topics and more.

Danny is a gymnast. He dreams of flying through the air at the Olympics and winning a gold medal. He's okay in school, but he's hoping for a full scholarship to a college of his choice.

Kurt is a football player who recently transferred from Lincoln. He watched his best friend die in the home he lived in from abuse and neglect. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

Barbara rated it:

2011 is going to be such a great year for books. I went to the ALA meeting last week and just the sight of this cover reached out and grabbed me. The book did not disappoint, although based on the backcover blurb part of me expected some kind of romance between a football player and a gymnast. God was I wrong, but in a good way. Gut-wrenching drama aptly describes this coming-of-age story about two young men, opposites in so many ways except for their need to uncover the courage inside themselv More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2011

Kate rated it:

Danny is a small, successful gymnast, one of the best in the state on the high bars. But at school, he is just another punching bag for the varsity football captains. His whole team are targets for their pranks (like putting a dead squirrel in their lockers during practice). Danny has learned to cope, how to avoid the bully's as much as possible, he has learned to survive.

Kurt is in a new foster placement thanks to the schools football coach, who basically recruited him from his More...

0 comments like

Dec 07, 2011

Sara rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Sep 28, 2011

Briony rated it:

OMG!!! What is there not to say about this book. Hands down one of the best books I have read this year. This book is not for the faint-hearted but those who will read it may be in for a surprise.

Written in an authentic but hypnotizing way, Leverage alternates between two main characters, Kurt and Danny. Normally I am not a fan of alternating voices as I feel that it loses the connection to the plot, but Cohen supremely constructs each chapter in a way that smoothly propels you to nex More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 14, 2011

Stefani rated it:

Holy cow. I loved this book and hated it at the same time: loved the story and hated the plot. The turmoil that these boys put themselves through is heartbreaking. The alternating narrators did an amazing job at showing the same world through two sets of victims' eyes.

However, this book covered A LOT of ground: an orphan, a mother is dead, a father works too much, a brother died in the war, steroids, bullying, physical abuse, sexual abuse, suicide, speech impediments, police brutality More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 01, 2011

Jordan K rated it:

This book was...wow. It has been a very long time since a book made me feel that much. I'll start with the characters. The boys were so real, so vivid, that I felt like I was back in high school again. Every line, every thought, was right there. The plot itself was so realistic it was scary. Not for the faint of heart, this book was incredibly vulgar and graphic, in ways that normally make me stop reading a book, but I couldn't help it, I was too hooked. I needed to ensure that the two main prot More...

0 comments like

Oct 18, 2011

Katie M. rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

May 08, 2011

Laura rated it:

This book pulls no punches. There's a lot of serious bullying, including a rape - and reading that part left me drained. I found the characters well-drawn and the plot riveting. The story is told in alternating chapters between Kurt Brodsky, foster care boy and Oregrove High School's newest football fullback, and Danny Meehan, an up-and-coming gymnast. A prank war between the football team and the boys gymnastics team escalates until major damage is done. I did enjoy reading this book but I More...

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Mar 14, 2011

Sarah rated it:

It's been four years since I read Robert Lipsyte's Raider's Night, but I still remember it--every detail. And, so, when I got to a certain part of this novel, I thought, whoa, I've read this before. I won't give away details, but I doubt if that event is so common that it needs to be repeated in a YA football book. I mean, really, I purchase about every football novel published for YAs, but I know other students are going to notice the similarities between the two novels.

HOWEVER, eve More...

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Jul 17, 2011

Robin rated it:

This very powerful YA novel revolves around a toxic high school football team. The coaches push steroids on students in the quest for the state championship. Enter Kurt, a student "recruited" by the coach from the foster care program. Kurt has lots of demons, lots of emotional baggage, and a history of severe abuse from a group home. He has channeled all this negativity into weight lifting and football, and is working hard to build a future fro himself.

Danny is a top tier gym More...

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Apr 12, 2011

Lora rated it:

One of the most powerful and realistic books I've read in a long time.

I heard someone booktalk this book at a conference and I decided immediately I wanted to read it. I had seen the book at my library, but wasn't much interested because of the cover. But after the booktalk I picked it up and then I couldn't put it down. I flipped through the pages as quickly as I could. After finishing the book I went back to cover and actually though it was insanely correct in its portrayal of th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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