Christopher Moning (Children's Literature)
Andrea "Andi" Davis decides to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point to escape her oppressive family life. Her mother is unsupportive and cruel; her father is so far out of it he might as well not be there. But is Andi prepared for Cadet Basic Training, the rigorous indoctrination to military life known to the cadets as Beast? Everyday, Andi's squad leader launches a barrage of UPPER CASE orders and name calling that will make the casual reader squirm. But in time, Andi learns to deal with the military's rough and tough methods. She even excels in the male dominated atmosphere, earning the respect of peers and superiors alike. Andi comes to realize that her parents demeaned her for no good reason, while at West Point the insults thrown at her are intended to make her a strong person and good soldier. The author, a graduate of West Point herself, has obviously walked in her heroine's boots. A glossary of military slang is included. 2000, HarperCollins, $15.95. Ages 12 up.

Paula Rohrlick (KLIATT Review, May 2000 (Vol. 34, No. 3))
Beast" is the term used to describe the initial six weeks of Cadet Basic Training at West Point, and for 17-year-old Andi, fresh out of high school and one of only two women in the platoon, the experience certainly seems inhuman. She and her fellow cadets are subjected to grueling tests of physical endurance and endless verbal abuse (e.g., "Do you pea-brained, scum-sucking, low-life grub balls understand?" No swear words here, though) by the upperclassmen that lead them, and they must learn to conform in every way. For Andi, however, the predictability of life at West Point is preferable to the chaos and emotional abuse of her life at home. Her talent as a runner, along with her determination and some help from her classmates, help her to adjust and finally to thrive and excel in her demanding new environment. Author Efaw attended West Point and went on to an Army career, so this novel has the authentic feel you would expect (even though Efaw points out some simplifications in an author's note at the beginning). It's a gripping story, with lots of suspense as Andi confronts challenges of all kinds, from dealing with people who seem to have it in for her to running races to overcoming her fear of leading others. Her pride at the end in her hard-won achievements seems entirely justified, and readers--particularly those considering a military career--will quickly become absorbed in her struggles to survive Beast. KLIATT Codes: JSA--Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, HarperCollins, 292p, 99-34516, $15.89. Ages 13 to adult.

Ann Reddy Damon (The ALAN Review, Winter 2001 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
Seventeen-year-old Andi Davis doesn't know why she wants to be at West Point Military Academy, other than that she doesn't want to be at home. But slowly, she's learning. Like all new cadets, Andi Davis receives abuse from her regiment leader. Yet, she reasons, his abusive demeanor has a purpose -- to help her develop character. At home, though, the verbal abuse and neglect she gets from her parents, she figures, is just that -- abuse and neglect. Suddenly, she finds purpose in her military life during a storming, mud-soaked, twelve-mile hike to Lake Frederick. Exhausted, yet elated, she sees herself for the first time as belonging to a group -- and a cause larger than herself. Amy Efaw uses her own West Point experience to write this realistic, engaging coming-of-age story. The strength of this work -- with its detailed look at preparing for army life -- is its in gripping self-reflective look at the central character's growth. This book is for anyone who is struggling not just with the angst of surviving an abusive household, but for those who want to learn more about becoming a strong moral leader. Genre: Coming of Age/Child Abuse. 2000, Harper Collins, 291 pp., $15.95. Ages 12 up.North Baltimore, Ohio

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 9))
There is nothing new about YA protagonists marching off to war. From Gary Paulsen’s Civil War Yankee (Soldier’s Heart, BCCB 9/98) to Walter Dean Myers’ Vietnam troopers (Fallen Angels, 4/88), soldiers have sprung fully formed from their author’s imagination onto the printed page. Little attention has been paid, though, to what makes a soldier--the motivation, skills, and training that prepare a civilian to take up arms against an enemy. Efaw examines this transition in a powerful tale of a seventeen-year-old’s battle with Beast, the summer of West Point training in which academy appointees are either weeded out or toughened into soldiers ready to join the August class of plebes. Andrea “Andi” Davis has grown up in a sort of domestic war zone, but her belligerent home life hasn’t prepared her for this; new cadets no sooner exit the opening convocation than the ruthless indoctrination begins: “YOU HAVE FOUR RESPONSES, AND FOUR RESPONSES ONLY: ‘YES, SIR’; ‘NO, SIR’; ‘NO EXCUSE, SIR’; AND ‘SIR, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND. . . . DO YOU PEA-BRAINED, SCUM-SUCKING, LOW-LIFE GRUB BALLS UNDERSTAND?” Disoriented and depressed at first by relentless hazing and verbal abuse from a hierarchy of squad, platoon, and company upperclass leaders, Andi suspects she is as worthless as her shrewish mother has led her to believe. Success on the track team restores some of her confidence, however, and as she steadily masters a series of complex military skills she begins to focus on the purpose behind the barked orders, mindless drills, and demand for rigorous self-control. Squad Leader Daily tersely observes, “It’s about killing people.” As demanding field exercises bond Andi and her squad into a cooperative unit, the cadets come to realize that it’s also about completing a combat mission and surviving it, feats no soldier can accomplish alone. Efaw (herself a West Point graduate) creates a supporting cast that could so, so easily devolve into heroic warrior wannabes, predictable academy washouts, and bullying tyrants; thankfully, each character is a distinctive amalgam of flaws, foibles, and moral grit, at once fresh and credible. Andi’s roommate Gabrielle is whiny and boy-obsessed, but she displays remarkable emotional fortitude and physical stamina under pressure; new cadet Hickman indelicately (and, in the book’s depiction, not unfairly) expresses doubts about the capabilities of women cadets in general but knows enough to rely on his female squad members’ proven judgment and skills. Cadet Daily (“Just think of me as your Daily nightmare”) is humorless and harsh, but unyielding in his determination to turn all his squad members into successes; Platoon Sergeant Black, who bellows marching cadences in “a voice that should have been captured on a CD somewhere, breaking hearts,” is a master of motivation who knows just how to push his charges to their physical limits. Vividly realized though the cadets may be, it is Beast itself that emerges as Andi’s true costar and nemesis--the White Whale she will, if not vanquish, at least subdue. Cadet Daily growls, “I’m going to spend the next six weeks tearing you down, inch by painful inch, until you don’t even remember you were anybody. Then you’ll spend the next four years building yourselves up to becoming someone again. But not the person you were.” Many teen readers currently basking in an educational milieu that promotes self esteem and looking forward to collegiate freedom on the horizon will marvel here at peers who freely submit to dehumanization, rigid discipline, and suffocating supervision in service of their country. Andi’s capably depicted transformation from an insecure adolescent into a knowledgeable and fit soldier, unhesitatingly obedient to the code of military conduct, may prove more disturbing to some readers than the edgiest sex, rebellion, and family dysfunction offerings of YA literature. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2000, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2000, HarperCollins, 240p, $15.95 and $15.89. Grades 6-10.

Leslie Dempsey (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 13, No. 4))
Amy Efaw gives a powerful and compelling account of one woman's battle to make it through the Boy's Club of West Point Military Academy. As she is broken down systematically, she realizes what she can become and who she truly is. By the end of the book, the reader is rooting for Andi to not only prove herself to the men at the school, but also to step up to the challenge she's been given. The text is compelling and fast. The read is interesting and thought provoking. By the end of the story, the reader will be rooting and shouting Hu-Ah! Never Surrender! Grades 9-12. 2000, HarperCollins, 291p, $15.89. Ages 14 to 18.

Tom Pearson (VOYA, October 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 4))
Andi Davis is a high school senior whose home life could crush the spirit of Mother Teresa. Her extremely dysfunctional family includes a clinically crazy mother, a father defeated by both life with his wife and life in general, and a brother and sister who have learned from their years in the pressure cooker to look out only for number one. When Andi hears about West Point and realizes that she has a good chance to be admitted, it seems like a dream come true. She soon learns, however, that the first six weeks of cadet training at West Point are referred to as "Beast," and not without reason. Raw cadets are mercilessly drilled, screamed at, belittled, and generally harassed until those who survive are ready to begin the process of being transformed into U. S. Army officers. Andi is determined to make it through, although she is wracked with self-doubt, caused by years of her mother's ridicule, and is without help from her browbeaten father. It also seems as if her cadet sergeant tormentors have it in for her, and some of her fellow cadets seem to think that female cadets are not required to "pull their weight." Will Andi make it through "Beast?" If she does not, she will have to go home. This book by a West Point graduate is a gripping, hard-to-put-down look at a young woman's struggle to succeed in a traditionally all-male environment. All readers, regardless of gender, who like a good coming-of-age story will enjoy it. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2000, HarperCollins, 291p, $15.95. Ages 12 to 18.