The Rule of Won - Stefan Petrucha
Caleb Dunne is a slacker and proud of it. Nothing much gets him riled up. He isn’t exactly popular at school, but he is definitely known around campus. The previous year, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and blamed for the destruction of the partially constructed gymnasium addition at school. He was expelled because of his alleged involvement. Truth is, he didn’t do anything, but no one believes him. The only person that even talks to Caleb is his over-achieving, politically ambitious, sort of girlfriend Vicky.When Vicky wants him to join a club based on the practices of a book called The Rule of Won he feels pressured to agree. The Rule of Won states that people can have everything they’ve ever dreamed of as long as they want it bad enough and think positively about it. Caleb has no interest in this club. In fact, it just sounds like a lot of work to him, but in order to stay with Vicky, he feels like he has no choice. Soon the group has a name and things begin to get serious.The Cravers are led by Ethan - a very serious follower of The Rule of Won. He guides the group by making suggestions as to what they should focus their positive thinking toward. First they focus on getting more funding for the school, then they move on to the school’s poor performing basketball team. From there, the Craves become more serious and Caleb begins to feel uncomfortable with the way things are going. Caleb has to decide if he is going to sit around and do nothing like the slacker he’s always been or make a stand to make things right.THE RULE OF WON is a novel that reminded me of LEAVING FISHERS by Margaret Peterson Haddix or THE WAVE by Todd Strasser. It is a great example of peer pressure in action. Even though the subject matter is serious, Caleb’s voice is entertaining. Only one aspect of the story didn’t seem to fit. There is a supernatural element that didn’t need to be there for the story to work. All in all though, THE RULE OF WON is an entertaining story.