Martino, Alfred C. Pinned

Martino, Alfred C. Pinned. Harcourt, 2005 [0-15-205631-9]
This is the tale of two very different young men in their senior year preparing for the state finals in NJ in two different areas of the state. One comes from a rich family in a rich school district, the other from a blue collar community. The reader gets wrapped up in their total commitment to wrestling. Meanwhile they are both also having personal problems. The rich boy's family is going through a divorce and believes he has gotten his inner city girlfriend pregnant. The other hates his coach and has a fright at practice and gets thrown off the team. Martino gets very specific about the locations in New Jersey, including street names. I just wonder whether it would turn off someone not from NJ (I am from NJ.) The there is a descriptive scene sexual scene with the boy who thinks he gets his girlfriend pregnant. It is more descriptive than I would feel comfortable letting most middle school students read. This is a powerful story for wrestlers but I would not recommend it for a middle school because of the one sexual scene -- there was no need to get that descriptive.