ISBN: 0-88739-248-2
208 pp.
Size: 6 x 9
Pub Date: 8/2000
Paperback Original
Price: $13.95
|
Academy, The
Mark Collantes
As an Aviation Cadet at a summer military prep school, Alexander Allusado learns the difference between being a leader and a follower. Alex loves flying, and the camaraderie and obligations of being an Aviation Cadet. Yet he is a teenager in transition, a civilian in a military world, and he needs to find freedom within the military structure. He discovers that striving for honor never protects people from the petty, the prejudiced, or the power hungry. Alex's teenage sensibility struggles to understand the truth about the world, only to find the essence of himself through the reflection of others. This heartfelt journey of a young boy becoming a young man is, at times, somber and frightening, funny and animated, and wistful while remaining subtly hopeful.
"I was born twice.
"The first time was August 1st, 1964. The second time was 22 June 1980 as a cadet to the Academy. I remember the second time but have little recollection of the first. The memory strikes at odd times. Usually it happens on hot June afternoons when I am flying alone. The sound of the propeller chopping into the wind as the sun beats down brings me back to the beginning. The setting sun ends the day and reminds me of the start of my flying career and who I was when I learned to play in the sky."
Bio: MARK COLLANTES graduated from the Aviation program at Culver Military Academy in 1982. He holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MS in Financial Markets and Trading from the Illinois Institute of Technology. The Academy is his first novel.
|
