Battle Dress - Amy Efaw

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Grades 7 & up

At my school we subscribe to the philosophy of habits of mind - if you train yourself to think in certain ways you will be better prepared to behave intelligently when faced with a problem. Persisting is the first habit of mind we talk about. We often face problems that will not be solved immediately - understanding that sometimes the solution isn't immediate and that despite this we must persist on and finish what we have started is a trait we would all be better off to have. If I could summarize Battle Dress by Amy Efaw with one word that word would be persistence.

The story starts with Andi Davis, a seventeen year old girl from the suburbs of Chicago, and her family getting ready to drive to New York to drop Andi off at the United States Military Academy at West Point. You quickly realize why Andi is excited to be leaving home. Andi's parents are whacked. Her dad is emotionless and completely detached from reality - her mom is suffering from some sort of mental illness. The parental dysfunction comes to a head during the trip when Andi's mom, angry that the dad won't stop, grabs the steering wheel and tries to pull the car off the road. After the father pushes the mom away the mom grabs dads glasses and throws them out the car window - all of this while they are traveling down the interstate at highway speeds. When Andi arrives at West Point she realizes that her family is the least of her problems. Andi, like all other new cadets, must go through a six week boot camp known as the beast. During this six weeks Andi and the other new cadets will be pushed to their physical, mental and emotional extremes. Andi's problems are compounded by the fact that she is a woman at a military school that is 90% male.

This was a good read. Amy Efaw writes from Andi's perspective with great conviction - Efaw is helped by the fact that she is a West Point graduate. I would recommend this to older middle level or high school aged kids, particularly girls or those that are interested in military life.