High school can be a living hell for someone who is experiencing ruthless bullying and constant harassment. Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen does a beautiful job of portraying what life is like for victims of bullying. In every high school there are those individuals who think it’s their job to cause pain to others, and bystanders can either choose to turn their backs or stand up to the bullies.

Leverage takes place in high school and involves sports, bullying, and the consequences of looking the other way. It’s told from the perspective of two students – Kurt, a football player, and Danny, a gymnast. Due to these different perspectives, the consistency of the story feels rather poor, since it is often easy to be confused about whom the story is actually talking about. The football players are recognized as royalty and can do no wrong, but they are also the source of the bullying.

The football team and the gymnastics team eventually find themselves in a prank war. However, Kurt and Danny do their best to stay out of it and are able to build a friendship that grows stronger as the story progresses.

For me this book does a great job of using real life experiences, since everyone can relate to the big, bad jocks as the bullies.

I highly recommend Leverage. When I selected this book, I assumed it would be another book about a football team winning a championship, but I was completely wrong. Leverage is a magnificent story about two teens who find an unlikely friendship despite overwhelming odds.