Losers Take All

Losers Take All

by David Klass

The sudden death of a legendary high school principal means a new man is brought in with new ideas to make that school great.

Unfortunately, that new man is the head coach of the championship football team and his idea of a great school is one where every team wins all the time.  He can't stand the idea of any student not being on a team and contributing to the success of the school. So he decides to make a new rule that ALL seniors MUST be on a sports team.

For Jack Logan, the third son of the greatest football star in the history of Fremont High, that means he's destined for the football team, whether he wants it or not.

Jack chooses not.

Jack has no interest in being tackled repeatedly, losing teeth and brain cells.  Instead, he and a group of friends create a C-team for soccer that they nickname The Losers. Their goal is to lose all five games of their season and make a point about forcing people into sports.

What Jack didn't count on was how social media would propel their losing team into a winning spotlight, with support from around the country from the victims of bullies and haters of sports everywhere.

Now Jack and his friends must find a way to lose games without losing everything they've fought for.

Final thoughts: Definitely a book for people who actually like sports, which seems strange considering the message. Klass writes like a sports writer for a newspaper, with descriptive passages about the action and the games. Unfortunately, as a non-sports person, I often got lost within the descriptions and terminology, but that didn't really take from the overall feeling of the book itself. Jack is likeable and the principal/coach is a classic villain. Jack's parents and friends are definite people and not just background. The only other downside to the book is the lack of a decent falling action/resolution moment. The book just kind of ends and doesn't really resolve everything. This is a good book for reluctant readers who like sports and/or have felt bullied because of sports.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks the NetGalley for the ARC.