Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Boot Camp by Todd Strasser

Garrett is in big trouble. Just because he feel in love with his teacher who is eight years older, his parents have sent him away to Harmony Lake, a boot camp for troubled teens in upstate New York. Forget all you've heard about boot camps, the reality is ten times worse.

Harmony Lake's purpose is to make kids obedient to their parents. Harmony Lake does this by stripiping away every right and dignity thier prisoners possess, and also by encouraging other kids to beat up the ones that don't conform. It's a brutal system, and it works. Garrett is finding out that nothing he does is right, and there is no faking compliance.

After being beaten repeatedly, put in Temporary Isolation too many times too count, and humiliated beyond belief, Garrett is wondering whether maybe, just maybe, he should think about giving in to these people. Otherwise he'll be here until he's eighteen, and that's several long years away.

But two inmantes have other ideas. Pauly and Sarah have been at Harmony Lake for almost two years, and although they've been beaten, their spirit is not broken. They've come up with a plan to escape. An incredibly stupid, risky plan. But the need Garrett's help. Is the freedom to be yourself worth the risk? Garrett isn't sure anymore, not after months of torture and brainwashing at Boot Camp.

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