| Grade 8 Up A thought-provoking and entertaining novel that is vaguely reminiscent of the movie An Officer and a Gentleman。 Cliff and B. J. are enduring Army basic training at Fort Ord in northern California。 Nina and Melanie are high-school seniors in a small town nearby。 Inevitably the four meet and pair up。 While the girls struggle with school， parents， romance and making future plans， Cliff and B。 J。 confront a much more threatening problem， their brutal and sadistic drill instructor， Sergeant Bradshaw。 Bradshaw subjects them to harassment and beatings， but when he publicly slanders Cliff's father， killed in Vietnam， Cliff loses control and attacks Bradshaw。 Cliff is discharged， but B。 J。 gets revenge on Bradshaw。 B.J. turns down a marriage proposal from Melanie， decides to stay in the Army， and gets transferred to Georgia。 Melanie takes off to seek adventure in New York。 Nina and Cliff are left behind to sort things out and make new plans。 The plot is well-constructed， with the tension gradually building to a rousing， satisfying climax。 The characterization of the four teenagers is excellent。 The major flaw in the book is the stereotypical portrayal of the cruel and bullying Bradshaw。 Although he is referred to as a “rotten apple” in the Army， young readers could be mislead into thinking Bradshaw is typical。 There seems to be growing interest in military careers among young people， and there is little fiction about soldiers， except in a war setting， so there will be an audience for this book， which will entice both girls and boys with its romance and the military setting。 Candy Bertelson， Multnomah County Lib 。Portland， Oreg。 |
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