When I first read the description of this book, I knew immediately that I wanted to read it. Here is the description: Drawn from personal experiences, this fast-faced story about self-image, relationships, choices, and sources of hope aims to speak to those readers who seek authentic and relatable characters they can identify with in real-life situations. Spencer doesn’t have a choice. He can't choose to be different than what he is—the son of the town's worst enemy, the weakling who can't stand up for himself, the loser without friends. He can't change the way things are. Or maybe he can. Spencer believes he needs to fix his life, and that is what the steroids promise—a quick fix.
The first thoughts I had were, that is so similar to the way I felt growing up. I had some major self-image issues, because of a stepdad that was constantly telling me that I was fat and not worth anything. I had relationship issues because I was scared of letting people get close to me and being hurt. If I couldn't trust my Mom and stepdad to protect me and not hurt me emotionally, how could I trust others to not do the same thing? I found myself turning to the misfits at school, because I was looking for acceptance anywhere I could get it.
Looking for a quick fix, some way to forget about the pain for a little while made perfect sense to me as a teenager. I never did drugs or steroids, but that could have easily been me. I love reading books where the main character seems very real. This one definitely felt that way for me.
I loved the book and would recommend it to teenage boys and girls. I will definitely recommend my son read it and have a conversation with him about it when he is done.
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