Andi Davis’s dismal home life is already so much like a war zone that she can’t imagine her indoctrination into the famous West Point military academy being much worse. But she’s wrong. During the summer before becoming “plebes” or freshman, new recruits have to undergo a six week hard core training session called “The Beast.” It’s awful, humiliating and bone-tiring. But every time Andi thinks about giving up, she remembers her mother’s shrill, angry voice and her father’s torpid silence and resolves that she will escape their fate no matter what. Even though she spends a better part of each day getting screamed at by her superiors, she also makes some great friends in her unit and learns the true meaning of team work. Andi is determined to best the Beast and make her mark as a strong girl in a big boy’s world. Author Amy Efaw knows first hand what it is to be a West Point plebe, and her depiction of Andi’s painful transition from sitting duck to confident solider is written just right. A real winner of a read.