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Summary: Battle Dress
Review: Andi Davis has just become part of West Point. Her home life is terrible and she wanted to get away, but unfortunately she didn't realize that West Point is worse. She starts out on the wrong foot and she is constantly getting yelled at. To add to this she is one of the only girls in her platoon! Though this story you will be thankful that you aren't part of West Point. You will love this book if you are ready for a lot hard work because as Andi finds out West Point isn't a piece of cake.
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Summary: From one who's been there...
Review: As a female West Point graduate, I can tell you this book is a terrific account of a new cadet's first summer. I read it on a plane and couldn't put it down. The guy sitting next to me must have wondered why I alternately laughed out loud and wiped away tears. It brought back all the emotions of Beast Barracks and the challenges I faced. I sent copies to my parents and grandparents to give them more insight into my experience. A woman's relationships at West Point are different than at most colleges; the competitive environment (where women often are viewed as the weak link) adds a new dimension to interacting with men and with other women. The low proportion of women (10%) makes them stand out more, warping their developing sense of self. Then add a dysfunctional family support system, and you get some idea of the challenges for Andi, the main character. I truly hope Amy Efaw continues the story line. The lessons from West Point show young adults what they can achieve and overcome, and what success is all about. If you want to read more about women at West Point, try to find a copy of Carol Barkalow's book, "In the Men's House." Carol was one of the first female graduates (1980) and her excellent book follows her cadet experience and early military assignments.
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Summary: best book ever!!!
Review: Battle Dress is one of the best books that I have read. Its based on a female in the army or getting through the first tiny part of it. There are parts when the pressure gets too much that she just wants to go home and then there's times when she thinks she can do anything. This book isn't just based on army stuff (even though alot of it is) it's on her life through it what she did, what she felt etc. to tell the truth I'm really not into army things at all but this book i got excited at parts and sad other times.this is a really great book to read.
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Summary: Battle Dress
Review: Battle Dress, by Amy Efaw, is a wonderfully written piece of literature. Honestly, it was one of the best books that I have ever read. It really does a good job at depicting the hardships and troubles of being a new cadet at West Point, especially for girl. With so few girls at West Point it makes them stand out and they can become an easy target for a lot of flack from the upperclassmen. Most of all, this book shows that when you pursue your dreams and never give up that great things will become of it. You just have to decide what's important to you and never surrender. I would recommend this book to any one who might be interested in West Point or any one who likes to read about women overcoming enormous obstacles against all odds. Scratch that, I would recommend this book to any one. It was just a good book and I had a lot of fun reading it.
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Summary: Battle Dress
Review: Battle Dress, by Amy Efaw, is a wonderfully written piece of literature. Honestly, it was one of the best books that I have ever read. It really does a good job at depicting the hardships and troubles of being a new cadet at West Point, especially for girl. With so few girls at West Point it makes them stand out and they can become an easy target for a lot of flack from the upperclassmen. Most of all, this book shows that when you pursue your dreams and never give up that great things will become of it. You just have to decide what's important to you and never surrender. I would recommend this book to any one who might be interested in West Point or any one who likes to read about women overcoming enormous obstacles against all odds. Scratch that, I would recommend this book to any one. It was just a good book and I had a lot of fun reading it.
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Summary: An entertaining though flawed read.
Review: Beast: that is what the first six weeks of intensive training are known as at West Point Academy. It is unbearable even for many that make it as far as acceptance into the elite training camp, but Andi Davis knows she can hack it. Her life at home has no order, and she has always stood on the outside of a group. If she can handle her unpredictable mother and her distant father, she can handle anything. Even being one of two girls in her whole platoon. She thinks.
Beast is nothing like her home life. There is so much order that Andi can't even turn her head to look around her. The change is hard enough to deal with, but combine that with the tests of physical endurance and the insults screamed at her and the other cadets, and even Andi begins to flounder. There's only one thing that keeps her from giving up: she doesn't want anyone to know that she's really a loser, like her family has always told her; she refuses to satisfy the few male cadets who seem to be waiting for her to fail.
But as the six weeks pass, something begins to happen. She begins to see that she that maybe her family is wrong, maybe she isn't a loser. For the first time, Andi feels a part of a group. Amid all the screaming and punishment, Andi realizes that she is learning more than commands --- she is learning about a private community from the inside, a community she's a part of.
I wasn't sure I'd enjoy this book because of its subject. However, I was immediately drawn in and found it a quick, enjoyable read. There are many scenes that involve physical competition that were so well-written I found my own breathing speed up as though I was competing. Andi is a great heroine, more concerned with reaching her own goals than living up to someone else's standards. Gabi, her one female friend, may be a bit irritating at times, but then you realize just how different the world of West Point is --- in the outside world, Gabi would probably be one of the more popular girls in the class.
However, there were issues that were unresolved and left me unsatisfied. Andi's mom definitely seems to suffer from some mental illness, but she is instead portrayed simply as mean and angry. Andi never comes to terms with her family and, eventually it seems, decides to leave them behind as she becomes more and more wrapped up in the military world. The author never mentions how Andi feels about the real reason she is there: she is training to be a soldier, to kill the enemy. At some point, I imagine she must have grappled with this, since patriotic passion was never a reason for her entering the military --- so what happens when this reality hits her?
All in all, an entertaining though flawed read.
--- Reviewed by Kate Torpie
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Summary: Outstanding YA Novel
Review: Courage is not so much an act but a choice--the choice to face our insecurities and follow a different path than the one those mistaken beliefs are telling us to walk. Amy Efaw's compelling, courageous characters illuminate us about the power of that choice. Her book will be enjoyed by adults as well as teens. I read it in one sitting. I wonder why this book was neglected by award committees. Hurry up with that sequel, Amy!
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Summary: This book is FAB and totally TODAY
Review: Efaw tells a realistic story about Andi Davis, a young girl that leaves an unstructured, dysfunctional home for the structured, dysfunctional system of West Point. The trials that Andi endured seemed very realistic. Efaw, however, does simplify the Cadet rank structure for the benefit of the reader. Over all, I found the book entertaining and enjoyable.
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Summary: Good Book on West Point
Review: Efaw tells a realistic story about Andi Davis, a young girl that leaves an unstructured, dysfunctional home for the structured, dysfunctional system of West Point. The trials that Andi endured seemed very realistic. Efaw, however, does simplify the Cadet rank structure for the benefit of the reader. Over all, I found the book entertaining and enjoyable.
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Summary: What I Did Last Summer
Review: First, it is important that the reader knows this book is fiction. So do not think you can take away true information, when a writer knows we cannot scrutinize what she says, because it is fiction, and she can say anything she wants to say. Second, I agree with the reviewer who is not happy about grads continuing to "milk" the Academy (and, by extension, the taxpayer). I say, leave it alone, why don't you! Third, though the writer is obviously the beneficiary of West Point's educational excellence, the book is really nothing more than your typical "what I did last summer" essay, in extended form. And, fourth, if you want to know what West Point is really all about, read a bonafide non-fiction book based on hard research facts (I recommend a fascinating book called "West Point" by Norman Thomas Remick). "Battle Dress" cannot give you that. It can only give you a nicely written, but fictional story. And it is heavily weighted to the female point of view, with much bias. It perpetuates the "we-they" difference between men and women. "Viva la differ'ence"!
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