Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

I give this book five out of five stars. Gym Candy is a realistic fiction book about Mick Johnson. Mick’s dad was a great running back in high school and college, but because of his bad ethic, he didn’t make it in the NFL. Mick has his dad’s talent, with good work ethic. Because of this, he has always been the best athlete on his team. This all changes when he gets to high school. Here, he is competing against stronger running backs. He is only a freshman, but he is fighting for a spot on starting varsity. He is placed at second string running back, but when the starting running back gets suspended for the rest of the season, he gets to start the last half of the season. He does great, but because he isn’t strong enough, he is stopped from scoring a game winning touchdown. This and a few other things, lead to him starting steroids.

I think it is a great book and I recommend it to anyone who likes sports books. It starts out with non-stop football action, but ends in a much more serious tone involving drugs. It keeps its excitement all the way through though. It shows how much drugs can mess up your life, but it also shows why an athlete might consider steroids. It shows both sides of a very prevalent problem, but in the end it shows how bad drugs are. Even if they might make you better for one season, in the end they can make a permanent damage to someone’s life. It keeps the reader hooked through out the whole book. In conclusion, this is a great book and if you like sports books, I think you will love this book.