Teen Fiction - Body, Mind & Health, Teen Fiction - Boys & Young Men, Teen Fiction - Sports

Takedown

Name: Takedown
Author: E.M.J Benjamin
ISBN: 9781889199047

by E.M.J M. Benjamin

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Overview

Jake thinks the great challenge of his senior year will be for the wrestling championship. Then he begins having seizures that threaten everything he values. His wrestling career...his driving privileges...his relationship with his girlfriend...even his college scholarship. During one harrowing wrestling season, he has to re-invent his whole life.

A powerful story with rare praise from the world's most successful international wrestler and the country's top epilepsy experts.

Winner of the Carolina Novel Award

Synopsis

A powerful story with rare praise from the world's most successful international wrestler and the country's top epilepsy experts.

KLIATT

Jake is entering his senior year of high school with an optimistic outlook. He has already been accepted to college with a scholarship, he is well liked by his peers, and he is poised to win a state championship in wrestling. Then suddenly, after winning a match, Jake suffers a seizure. His younger brother recognizes it as a seizure, but Jake and his dad are not willing to accept it. They pass it off as nothing serious, but when it occurs again, Jake is taken for a check-up. The doctor warns Jake that his condition could be serious, but that it can be controlled with medication. Jake is not willing to reveal his condition to anyone, not even his closest friends. One day, when he is preparing for a match, Jake discovers his medication is at home. He suffers an attack, witnessed by a team member and coach. Now Jake has to make some tough decisions. How he handles these decisions is what makes the story interesting. This readable selection offers YAs an insight into high school wrestling that few have attempted. The combination of a novelist and a high school wrestling coach lends creditability to the story, which includes discussion of the pressures of drugs, athletic competition, and issues about girls competing in traditionally male sports. This tale should appeal to younger boys, especially those interested in wrestling. It is well written and an easy read. I would highly recommend this book to middle school readers, especially reluctant readers, because it moves rapidly and has a simple, easy-to-follow plot. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 1999, Banks Channel Books (P.O. Box 4446, Wilmington, NC 28406), 205p, 22cm, 99-72400, $9.95. Ages 13 to 15.Reviewer: Deane A. Beverly; Reading Teacher, Pawcatuck, CT (retired), November 2000 (Vol. 34 No. 6)

About the Author, E.M.J Benjamin

E.M.J. Benjamin is the pen name for a writing team of an award-winning fiction writer and a successful high school wrestling coach.

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Editorials

ALAN Review

Jack Chapman is hardheaded in more ways than one. As a star on the high school wrestling team, he uses the technique of slamming his head hard into an opponent's legs, thereby knocking them off balance. Once, though, Jack uses this technique and suddenly notices a strong odor--like burnt cheese. Later, Jack has several seizures, and he is soon diagnosed with epilepsy. Jack is crushed. This star senior wants to win a college athletic scholarship and, of course, the state wrestling championship. Now, unable to compete, he wallows in self-pity, striking out in torment and anger at his family and girlfriend. E.M.J. Benjamin is the pseudonym of the award-winning author Ellyn Bache, and together, with her husband, they create a realistic portrayal of a young man learning to live with a disability. Good books about the hardships of student athletes are hard to find. This one is a keeper. Genre: Sports/Disabilities. 1999, Banks Channel Books, Ages 12 up, $9.95. Reviewer: David Gill

KLIATT

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Jake Chapman, a star high school wrestler with a legitimate shot at winning the state championship, finds his life turned upside down when he is diagnosed with epilepsy. The discussion of both the sport and the disease have the ring of authenticity, and the two elements are well integrated into the plot. There is also a candid treatment of the emotional impact of epilepsy on Jake and his family. Scatological language accurately represents the speech patterns of many teen athletes. The arch villain is a feminist English teacher who has unfairly kept Jake out of the National Honor Society. She is smug, sarcastic, and dishonest, and she punishes those students who displease her by putting a paper pig on their desks. She is not the only female portrayed in a negative light. The one girl on the wrestling team comes late to practice and frequently skips it altogether but is not disciplined because the coach fears a lawsuit. Jake's own mother sacrifices the welfare of her family for the sake of her career. The sad thing is that all of this misogyny is entirely gratuitous; Jake's story is compelling enough to stand on its own, without the heavy-handed antifeminism.- Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.