Boot Camp

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In the middle of the night Garrett is taken from his home to Harmony Lake, a boot camp for troubled teens. Maybe some kids deserve to be sent there, but Garrett knows he doesn’t. Subjected to brutal physical and psychological abuse, he tries to fight back, but the battle is futile. He won’t be allowed to leave until he’s admitted his “mistakes” and conformed to Harmony Lake’s standards of behavior. And there’s no way to fake it. Beaten, humiliated, and stripped of his pride, Garrett’s spirit is slowly ebbing away. Then he hears whispers of an escape plot. It’s incredibly risky — if he’s caught, the consequences will be unthinkable — but it may be his only way out.
This tense, riveting novel reveals what really goes on in highly secretive — and notoriously dangerous — boot camps, a stealth prison system where any teenager under the age of eighteen can be imprisoned at his parents’ whim.

1. Realistic Fiction for YA

Reviews

Kliatt

Teens, especially boys, will be rivetted by Garrett’s appalling experiences and by his suspenseful escape… The novel is a real eye-opener.

School Library Journal

A vivid and realistic novel… Teens will be outraged by the manipulation, torture, and hopelessness experienced by the residents of Lake Harmony… They will be engrossed by this fast-paced and revealing story about the hidden side of teenage incarceration.

Awards

  • American Library Association: Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. 2010
  • Georgia: Peach Book Award for Teen Readers.
  • Illinois: Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award.
  • Iowa: High School Book Award (nominee). 2011
  • New York Public Library: Book for the Teen Age.
  • Virginia: Young Readers Award (nominee). 2011