Boot Camp is a young adult novel by Todd Strasser about a boy who is subjected to physical and psychological abuse when his parents send him to a boot camp.

Plot

In the middle of the night, fifteen year old Garrett Durrell is kidnapped and sent to a boot camp in upstate New York called Lake Harmony. Upon his arrival, he learns that his parents have sent him to the facility because he refused to stop dating his former math teacher, Sabrina. Garrett does not believe he belongs at Lake Harmony, but he is not allowed to leave until he has admitted his "mistakes" and conforms to the facility's standards of behavior. Staff members are authorized to use "any force necessary" to alter his behavior, including physical and psychological abuse.

After attempting to talk his way out with no success, he realizes escape is his only option. He escapes Lake Harmony with two friends after using chemicals to start a fire. They reach the Canadian border to escape from legal recapture, and their pursuers' boat begins to sink. He lets his friends out on the other side of the border, and then rescues his pursuers, who bring him back to Lake Harmony, where he is beaten senseless repeatedly. The director announces that all campers are being demoted, based on the privilege system they use, and so he is beaten yet again by the campers. Ultimately, he is "reformed". When his mother comes to pick him up, she asks if he was beaten. He says that he was, but believes that he deserved all of it.

Awards and nominations

• American Library Association Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
  
• Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers
  
• New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
  
• Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award
  

External links

• Description from Strasser's website
• Todd Strasser's website