Life on Base: Quantico Cave

Product Description
For Stephen, his life on base is much the same as most other children’s. The difference is in the details. Look both ways before crossing a tank path and be sure to check if the spent bullet casings you find in the long-abandoned trenches are actually empty. Sports stop at the sound of the evening trumpet call as he and his friends stand at attention while the flag is retired. Quantico Cave is a story of friendship and competition, and when Stephen meets up with a friend he once knew at a previous home station, the contest hits a whole new level that places everyone at risk.
Review
Dianne Donovan, SeniorReviewer, Midwest Book Reviews



5 Stars from MBR 



Lifeon Base: Quantico Cave
is first in a projected series of middle school books and introduces Stephen,whose life on a military base is presented in exact detail. While many novelsintroduce the themes of 'army brats' interacting with their peers, few actuallytake the time to reveal base life itself, with all the uncertainties andaltered realities that it brings.

 


Asan example of the latter: what non-base kid needs to know their parents'ranking? What civilian child lives in a world where everyone's parents do thesame job and everyone is trained to interact in a self-contained environment ofmilitary history and experience? And what average middle-school student is moreconcerned about decorum and exercise strategy than play?


 


Thereare plenty of experiences and differences on a military base to separate anarmy brat from a civilian child, and all these are thoroughly explored in astory set on a base where military structure and values override all concerns.


 


AsStephen faces constant changes, good and bad kids, and temptations andalternate directions, messages from the military and his parents' trainingpermeate his consciousness and dictate his choices ("Keep your head up,his dad's voice shouted from somewhere in his mind. Don't cry, boy.You'll be a Marine someday. We protect those who can't protectthemselves.")


 


Fromlife on a base under lockdown and how children and their parents react to'Clothes Monster' nightmares to the lingering affects of absent parents andconstant moving, Life on Base: Quantico Cave is a story of friendshipsmade and lost, of military family social interactions, and of one boy's comingof age in a world where routines are part of a rigid, essential system linkedto survival and a greater good.


 


Anyonewho wants to know exactly how base life is perceived by the young will find Lifeon Base: Quantico Cave engrossing and unparalleled in its descriptions ofmilitary base life's impact on family and friendships.
From the Inside Flap


"A gritty, heart-felt adventure any base brat, past or present, will relate to."


--Bennett R. Coles, NY Times Best Seller and Award-winning author of Virtues Of War




"I haven't lived on a military base for more than forty years, but this story set me right back in that world--a world that never stands still long enough to become boring, where life is lived out of cardboard boxes and shipping crates. Each day, each new home brings a new adventure. People looking in from the outside think such temporary lives must be rough...but brats know better. We're brothers and sisters to all other brats, drawn together into one enormous family...and that relationship is permanent.


Stephen, Jay, Jimmy, Rick and the others are all of us in microcosm. I recognized them as though I'd seen them only yesterday, and I salute their determination and spirit.


If you've ever wondered what it's like to be a brat, read this book. If you've lived a brat's life, you'll recognize yourself in this story."


--Kathleen Rice Adams, Award-winning author and USAF Brat



"In a world where very few people treat or recognize the military with the respect they deserve, Quantico Cave is a breath of fresh air. This is the start of a series of middle-grade books that highlight both the highs a