Boot Camp
Fiction
By Todd Strasser
Reviewed by Greg McMullin
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
Broken, beaten, scarred, and stripped of pride. These all describe Garret Durrell after his visit to Lake Harmony, a boot camp where rich parents send their children to be reformed the way THEY want their children to be. The problem is, parents don’t know just what happens to their children at Lake Harmony.
Escorted by car, Garret is taken by “transporters” paid by his parents to Lake Harmony in the dead of the night. When he arrives, Garret is horrified by what he sees. Children brutally being forced to run, to work ALONE in “classrooms”, with no teachers to help. “Chaperones”, cheaply paid grunts hired to keep children in line, keep watchful eyes on them, making sure no one slacks off. Joe, a “chaperone” and Garrets “family’s” “father”, beats him or has other students beat him on a daily basis, intent on making Garret learn the rules of Lake Harmony. Garret finds out he can’t leave Lake Harmony until he advances in the levels of Lake Harmony and becomes mature, or his parents’ definition of mature. But Garret learns of a plan to escape from Lake Harmony. It’s very risky, and if Garret is caught who knows what the staff of Lake Harmony will do to him. But he has to take a chance.
Throughout his stay at Lake Harmony, Garret endures vast amounts of both physical and mental pain. The staff and higher level students, especially Garret’s “father” Joe, constantly inflict beatings upon him, wanting to make him realize the error of him disobeying his parents. Garret is also put into long periods of Temporary Isolation, or TI, where he is forced to lie down on a concrete floor for days at a time, only allowed to get up to eat or use the bathroom. During these times, the loneliness and boredom often gets to Garret, forcing him to replay memories of when he was happier. The staff of Lake Harmony says this is all only making them be better people, what their parents want them to be. Garret notices that the upper level students, the ones close to graduating, actually believe they deserve to be put in these boot camps. You can’t fool the staff, and the only way to get out is when you finally “realize” (aka become brainwashed) that you DESERVE to be put in Lake Harmony.
Boot Camp is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone who is willing to read it. Isn’t very difficult, and you can quickly become attached to it. Todd Strasser does a brilliant job of making you understand Garret’s struggles, and make you feel like you’re stuck in Lake Harmony, just like Garret.
