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Austin H

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

by Ken Kesey

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(page 26 of 325)
"yeeehaw" — Oct 15, 2012 12:11PM

Oct 15, 2012 12:10PM

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Boot Camp

by Todd Strasser (Goodreads Author)

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Austin H said: " The book i chose to read this quarter is Boot Camp by Todd Strasser. The book is seems pretty simple on the cover and appears to be a book such as Holes but once you get deeper you realise it’s no where near that, and in fact is a lot worse. The book The book i chose to read this quarter is Boot Camp by Todd Strasser. The book is seems pretty simple on the cover and appears to be a book such as Holes but once you get deeper you realise it’s no where near that, and in fact is a lot worse. The book is definitely young adult and not for the faint of heart. It can be very depictive and brutal at times, but in my opinion thats what makes this book so great. You envision every part of this story, you become part of the story. Almost as an outsider looking in wanting to help Garret, the main character, and others from this “camp”
To give a little background the book it’s about a troubled teen who is sent away to a “boot camp” of sorts by his parents. He is collected during the night by a pair of bounty hunters whom he later finds out work for Lake Harmony, the camp to which he is being brought to. His parents told the owner that Garrett has been staying out late, stolen money, barely goes to school, smoking weed, and is romantically involved with his math teacher. This is just too much for them to handle and believe he needs to be corrected. However when his paper sign the paperwork saying “any force needed” little do they know what really happens.
Immediately Garrett’s tested, being forced to strip, and be searched by a bunch of strangers. When you first start reading at first glance you might think Garrett is a tough kid and isn’t afraid of anyone but in this simple part we learn that he’s a human being just like any of us. He feels humiliated and scared, and you see that this person depicted isn’t whom Garrett truly is.
Through out the book we see numerous selfless acts by Garret, one of the more notable ones is when he saves a kid from being beat by other “inmates”. He shows much sympathy when he see’s Paul, whom would later become one of his closest friends, being beat. He saves Paul knowing his fatal punishment even. Garrett is not only beat by the supervisors for saving Paul but places in “TI”, standing for temporary isolation.
Temporary isolation might be one of the most testing things for Garrett. Not only do we see how humble and scared he can be but we also see his strength, the inner fight which he posses. Kids attending Lake Harmony are receiving what they call a “rehabilitation program” in which they see the pain and wrongdoings of their past and are forced to believe they are terrible people and become straight and narrow kids who barely speak a peep. In TI they are locked away from the general public. There’s nothing to sleep on, just a cold concrete floor, not to mention the almost daily beatings you receive. On top of just being able to survive it once, Garret survives it numerous times.
Realising that the only way to get out alive is to either conform to the “person” they want you to be or escaping Garrett and his best friends, Paul and Sarah make their decision. No longer will they stand for what is occurring, they need to escape and make it to Canada where they can not be captured due to it being a different country.
One day they decide to start a fire using chemicals and the control panel. The fire gives them the opportunity to escape the grounds and start making a run for it. The fire trucks come in giving the the chance they need to escape. As they are escaping a supervisor named joe manages to follow them, Garrett restrains him and wants to hurt him but is talked out of it.
After numerous days on the run they are on the border when they see the bounty hunters again. They follow them in a boat when suddenly they start to sink. Garrett seeing the outcome lets Sarah and Paul off and saves the bounty hunters who take him back. He’s beaten senseless and we are lead to believe he conforms to who they want him to be.
The book to me shows strength. True character. At the end we see how caring of a person Garrett is. He gives up his freedom to save the lives of even those he hates. The book to me shows about keeping your true character. ...more "

Jan 17, 2014 08:35AM · see review