Takedown
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, VTCopyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.