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Bless The Beasts & Children: A Novel (1970)

by Glendon Swarthout(Favorite Author)

3.47 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1476766797 (ISBN13: 9781476766799)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Simon & Schuster

review 1: I had to read this book for English class and I honestly loved it more than I thought I would! Some dislike it and think the flashbacks are boring, but I think it adds more to the fun. I fell in love with the characters and their journey through camp, I have a book crush on Teft now... The ending left me speechless, I almost cried to be honest. The kids in my class would have rather driven a truck off a cliff than read this book, but I truly loved it and all the characters' personalities.
review 2: CAMP LOSERS AND MISFITS COME OF AGEIt is the last week of summer at Box Canyon Boys camp in Arizona, wehre the losers and misfits have naturally sorted themselves in the Bedwetters's Cabin-a scornful nickname for the "tribe" lowest on the social totem pole. Cotton, t... moreheir self-appointed leader, is determined to whip his unhappy recruits into shape before they are released back to their dysfunctional homes. After all, the camp brochure promised to send their boys home as Men by late August.This unlikely band of loners and whiny-babies gradually becomes galvanized into a cohesive unit with one overriding passion: to free a small herd of buffalo which has been captured for legalized "harvest." Each year the Fish and Game Department invites amateurs (with misguided dreams of the recreating the old West) to experience a safe buffalo shoot. Can a gang of kids foil the grisly program and strike a blow for the freedom of this once mighty symbol of rugged American independence?Swarthout's style includes frequent flashbacks into the summer and even the pre-summer-indicated by paragraphs in italics-which provide background information into the motivation and familial frustration of each member of the shamed tribe. Gritty and brutally realistic the author depicts the difficult path to maturity as these boys reluctantly bond, only to disintegrate over trifles. Struggling with personal quirks and forced to face adult crises in their last-ditch effort to accomplish something truly marvelous, the Bedwetters rise above their own petty differences, ultimately graduating to warrior status by following their forbidden dream quest. If they can just free the buffalo before camp is over--despite great personal cost and inevitable legal repercussions. Savoring the thrill of defiance for a higher goal, they strive to morph into less selfish youths, determined to overcome their diverse private issues. A gripping tale of survival on several levels, this book will hook readers who cherish the freedom of the plains. (April 4, 2012. I welcome dialogue with teachers.) less

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