Anything to Win [Hardcover]

Gloria Miklowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1989

To increase his chances of winning a college scholarship, a talented high school quarterback risks his health by taking anabolic steroids to gain weight.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cam narrates the story of his high school senior year. Handsome and popular, he is quarterback of the school's football team and candidate for a college football scholarship if he gains 30 pounds. However, Cam's life becomes suddenly complicated: the only way he can gain that much weight is by using steroids, and he struggles with this moral dilemma. If he takes steroids, his father will be disappointed in him, but would it be worse if he didn't land the scholarship? Cam's coach encourages him to take the steroids, but another boy who had used them is in the hospital. Ultimately Cam must rely upon his own judgment and accept the consequences of his actions. Miklowitz brings to this timely issue her usual care in creating realistic situations and in Cam's character, a sense of honest introspection. Readers--whether actively involved in athletics or simply spectators--will find much to think about in these pages; it is their generation that will have to confront this issue on into the '90s. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 138 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (June 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385297505
• ISBN-13: 978-0385297509
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,536,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Anything to Win, March 15, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Anything to Win (Turtleback)

Daniel Adams
3/14/07

Cam is an average senior high school guy that lives in California and is into things such as food and football. Cam is the starting quarterback for his high school and is really good football. So good that he is being recruited by college coaches to play football. The coaches are impressed with what they see but they think that Cam needs to put on another thirty pounds of muscle to be ready for college competition. Coach Cooney is offering help to Cam but it may not be the best thing for his health. COach is offering him a membership to a gym and guy that will supply him with steroids. Cam encounters many challenges and predicaments that he must face alone because his friends are not there. Will Cam fold under pressure or will he turn out to be a star.

Cam can always gets the girl that he wants because they usually come to him. He is one of the most popular kids in school and gets invited to all the parties. But there is one girl that will not look at him and he wants her the most. He would do anything to get her attention. So one day he asks her if she would like to do something with him. She decideds that they should play tennis. So on Saturday Cam an Laurel play tennis much to Cam's pleasure. He is not very good according to Laurel. When the match is over Cam asks her of she would like to play some football next weekend he could teach her how to play. She says that she can't because she is going up to the beach this weekend and will be gone all weekend. Cam is very disappointed and can't focus all week long. So on Friday he decided to go to the beach and see if he could find her. So he takes his best friend Kevin and his brother. His brother is probably one of his best friends too. When they arrive in Palm Springs they decide to go and check into the hotel and walk around. Cam see's something and walks away from the other two. Something that attracted his attention but was very familiar. It was a clown. But the person inside was Laurel Greene. Cam was so stunned he didn't know what to do, so he asked her to go to dinner. She agreed and told him to pick her up at eight. After dinner Cam wraps her up in his arms and kisses her. She pulls away and storms up to her front door and rushes in the house. Cam is stunned and wants to be her boyfriend and doesn't know what he did wrong. He tries to talk to her the next day at school but she completely ignores him. In the end they end up together.

The characters of the story were phenominal. That is what made this book as good as it was. The author, Gloria D. Miklowitz did a wonderful job in creating the characters and should be awarded a prize. Without just one character the whole story would be shattered and it would not make any sense at all. Even the smallest people such as the mother were important. Also another important factor in this extremely wonderful novel is the setting. With the setting taking placein an average high school and an average community. Also taking place on the west coast in California you realize that the parties can be pretty wild and drugs are no new thing. Some people even in small townes in smaller cities have the same problems. Kids every day take steroids and every day people die from them. Even professional athletes take steroids and are sometimes found guilty. The setting and charcters of this book were outstanding and should be rewarded.

This is a wonderful story about how high school teens are pressured into taking steroids. It is actually like I am in the locker room with the footbal players. This story reveals the truth about steroids and shows you all the harms and dangerous reasons why you shouldn't take steroids. Kids of all ages who are interested in sports should read this book and learn the dangers of steroids and how it can hurt your body. I know that i benefited a lot from reading that excellent novel.

4.0 out of 5 stars Anything to Win, March 14, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Anything to Win (Turtleback)

Daniel Adams

March 13, 2007

Cam Potter is an average senior student in high school and is the starting quarterback of the football team. He is a very talented player and recieves a lot of attention from everyone. He can date any girl that he would like at the school and is invited to all the parties. He is a wonderful person with average grades and the average fmaily. He has just been offered a scholarship to play football in college. But there is one thing that he must do to fit the requirements. He must gain thirty pounds in ten weeks, which is almost impossible.

Cam Potter is an outstanding quarterback who starts for his high school. He is very popular with the guys and girls. His best friend is a boy named Kevin who is also on the team. Kevin is a pothead who smokes a joint before every practice and game to ease him. But, the coach can tell that Kevin is on something because his reaction time is much slower and he isn't really in the game. The coach tells Cam, the team leader, that if Kevin doesn't stop the marijuana then he will be kicked off the team. Cam gives the information to Kevin who decides that smoking a joint is more important than being on the high school football team. At practice the next day, Cam is told that he is being looked at by college scouts and he might be getting a scholarship. But, there is one catch, the scouts say that Cam is too small and needs to put on thirty pounds to get the scholarship. Coach Cooney tells Cam about a gym that he should go to and i guy that he should speak to about possibly taking steroids. Cam rejects the idea of taking a drug at first but then realizes that if he wants to put on weight he better take the steroids. Cam starts to notice a huge gaining of weight. He is up ten pounds in only two weeks. Can he stay safe and not hurt himself with taking the steroids or will he get hurt or in trouble? You have to read the book to find out.

Cam meets a girl named Laurel Greene who he can't get enough of. But she is the only girl in school he seems to not notice him as the great football player but as a regular guy. Cam would really like to date her and get to know her a lot better. So one day he decides to ask her if she would like to go to play tennis with him. She agrees, and they have a lot of fun playing tennis. He asks her to play football with him next week and she says she can't because she is going on vacation. He decides that he should go out to the beach and visit her because he really wants to see her. So two of friends and him went on a weekend vacation. She was there but she was found unexpectedly. She was working as a clown on the side of the street. Cam finds a way to convince her to go out to dinner with him. They had a wonderful time. On the way back to Laurel's house Cam tries to kiss her but she gets angry and storms up to her house. The next day at school Cam tries to talk to her but she completely ignores him. Then the next day Cam's older brother decides to move out. Cam now has nobody to talk to and feels very lonely because his brother is gone and his best friend is to high whenever he tries to talk to him. His best friend Kevin is always smoking a joint and is never conscious enough to even talk to him. Even before he was really hooked on to the marijuana he was sometimes drunk or unable to come. Also his brother who is always there to look out for him is moving a few hours away and is quiting working for his father. Now Cam's dad is always angry and sometime takes it out on Cam. So now Cam and his father have a poorer relationship then before. Cam is in so deep and needs someone to talk to but there is nobody to talk to.

This was a great book in my opinion and any sports fan will enjoy this wonderful story. Cam Potter is a wonderful character and goea through many tough decisions in his young life. He does a pretty good job with handling them. But what he doesn't realize is that he could seriously be injured by taking steroids. This book shows all the dangers and bad things that can happen to your body if you take steroids. I highly recommend this book to all aged people.

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite Arguably The Best Novel I've Ever Read!, November 6, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: ANYTHING TO WIN (Laurel-Leaf Books) (Mass Market Paperback)

Do you label yourself as "Competitive?" Do you enjoy the adrenaline rush that runs through your body when you see that your team has just walked away with a check in the win column? Would you do almost anything in your power to win? Would you even go so far as to bend the rules a little bit? Would you, would you, would you?

Well, in Anything to Win by Gloria D. Miklowitz, Cam Potter had to answer all those questions and in doing so, he tore the mask off the conduct of high school athletes. Potter was your average high school senior. He enjoyed the simple things in life, like hanging out with friends, flirting with girls, and playing a good game of football. In fact, he was the quarterback of a national championship caliber team. He was a fairly decent athlete in rather good shape, and he was able to think on his feet. He could find an opposing teams' weakness just as easy as he could the sports section of the newspaper. He could react quickly in a tight situation, and this made him one of the best QBs in the state. He had a fair few college scouts who were interested in him. His life was going pretty well until one fateful day when Coach Cooney called him into his office after a game. Cooney said that he had talked to some scouts during the game and that they were falling on top of each other over Potter's skills. He said that they'd be happy to give him a full scholarship if he would just gain a few pounds. By "a few," he meant 30, and Cam had to pack it on before season ended in less then three months. There was no chance that he could put on that much weight in 10 weeks, no way. That is, unless he resorted to taking special vitamins. These "Vitamins" that Cooney gave Cam were very high potency anabolic steroids. Potter is reluctant to go against his morals at first, but when he realizes that his family cannot afford to send him to the school he has been dreaming of, he finds himself in a pickle. Should he go against his morals and get the scholarship, or should he stay true to his heart and put on as much weight as he can, the natural way? Decisions, Decisions. Which road does Cam Potter decide to follow? The only way for you to find out is to read the book.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in competitive sports. It was quite arguably one of the best books I've ever read. My only complaint was that I felt the story came to a much too abrupt and sudden end. I believe that the author could've easily produced at least three more chapters. Nevertheless, this book was as addicting as any action movie I've ever seen, and it was much more relatable because you know that events like the ones in this novel happen all the time in our country. Cam Potter really made me stop and think about the darker side of competition. He opened my eyes and made me see how immoral steroids really are. And isn't that the most important aspect anyway, the morals of the sport you play? Sure, everyone wants to win, but what's winning if you don't do it with honor? "We can't all play a winning game; someone is sure to lose. Yet we can play so that our name, no one may dare accuse, that when the master referee scores against our name, it won't be whether we've won or lost, but how we've played...the game."