Lean Mean Machines

Lisa Arsenault is an elementary-school teacher in Ajax, Ontario.

Laure is forced by family circumstances to relocate from cosmopolitan
Montreal to a small town. Her father embezzled money from his clients
and committed suicide, leaving his wife and two children in poverty. She
pretends to still possess her former lifestyle, even going so far as
walking with her girlfriends after school to the upscale neighborhood
where they live, pretending that she lives there too, and then
backtracking to the poor side of town where she actually lives.

Eventually, Laure’s secret is discovered, and she is blackmailed by
another high-school student (it should be noted that the blackmail takes
the form of sexual favors). Her cause is championed by Jeremy, a cyclist
who finds bicycles—“lean mean machines”—easier to work with than
girls. She resents him at first, but he helps her realize that her
situation is no fault of hers and she has no reason to feel ashamed.
Together they confront the blackmailer, and Laure comes to terms with
her new life, improves her relationship wither her mother, and expands
her circle of friends.

The structure of this young-adult novel is interesting: Laure and
Jeremy each tell their story in the first person, in alternating
chapters. Author Michиle Marineau is adept at taking the personas of
the two protagonists and staying true to the voice, character, and
perspective of each. Marineau also includes an interesting twist at the
end: predictably, Laure and Jeremy would conclude the novel as
girlfriend and boyfriend, but this story avoids that cliché.

The themes of peer pressure, family problems, and young love have
universal appeal for teens, and Lean Mean Machines incorporates all
three. Recommended.