Camp X Book Report
Title: Camp X Author: Erik Walters Introduction: This book report discusses the plot, significant characters, setting (e. g. , time of the story took place, historical background), problems and resolutions, themes or messages of the story. A reflection of the author’s writing style will be presented followed by a conclusion. Plot: This story talks about 2 young teenagers during World War II are spending an exciting and intense wartime summer in Whitby.
Almost 12 years, George and 14 years old, Jack, are having a make-believe war when they get caught by 2 guards and are asked to leave and not return.One day, they discover 4 men planting “clay” onto the bridge. George and Jack suspect that these 4 men are possibly some of the German Spy Agents from the Camp they visited and are sent to bomb the bridge. Driven by intense curiosity, these 2 boys sneak into Camp X and discover the activities they do there. They get caught and are interrogated the head of the camp, the lieutenant colonel. As the boys know almost as much as what the camp is about, they are asked to sign an agreement that none of the information that they know about the camp is told and that they are officially agents of the Camp.
A newspaperman, Mr. Krum is very curious about the activities in the camp. Knowing about the agreement, none of his questions were answered and as the conversation continued, Mr. Krum showed the boys his medals while serving with the German Army. Later on, the boys miscount newspapers and decide to go to the newspaper office to get a few more.
Mr. Krum drives them to a place where they are tied up and interrogated. After being interrogated, the Germans that Mr. Krum was part of planned an attack to the camp and the D. I.
L Plant that their mother was working at.The boys break free and in a jeep that they stole, both of them got injured but still got recognized later as heroes. Characters: George: George is a quite honest, well mannered and kind boy. He is a Canadian but has a German decent from his grandfather. He loves to play make-believe war and is a great problem solver.
He loves his parents and cares most about his brother, Jack. In addition, he bites his cheek whenever he is nervous. George follows instructions given to him carefully and always gets dragged away to Jacks adventures that he considers dangerous.Jack: Jack is a smart 14 year old, great problem solver and is considerate to his brother. He also is Canadian and has a German decent from his grandfather. He often gets George into his troubles and drags him along his adventures.
Jack is very knowledgeable, reliable, sneaky who is at times encourages his brother to follow him and do the things he tells him to do. As Jack is already so knowledgeable about the camp, he signs an agreement to not tell anything about the camp and to serve in part of the camp. Mom:Mom is a very caring mother of the two kids, Jack and George. She works at the D. I. L plant and trusts her two boys.
She is mostly unintelligent to her two boy’s actions and believes that they do exactly what she intends. For instance, when she is gone, the boy’s visit the camp and in time return back home. Mom thinks that the whole day they stayed out of trouble and did their paper route. Mr. Krum: Mr. Krum is a very kind, curious, newspaperman who is very kind to the two boys.
He served for the German country during the war and is very loyal to Germany.He claims he is a Canadian and wants to enlist in the Canadian Army. Although he brings them to a house and interrogates them for what they know, instead of killing them at the end, he spares their lives and aims for the wall so that his associates suspect that the boys are dead. George and Jack both have a newspaper route and as George calls him a traitor, Mr. Krum explains that he is only loyal to Germany. Little Bill: Little Bill is a very important World War I airplane ace that is in charge of Camp X.
He is very skillful, kind and keeps his promises.In addition, he is a very skillful and observing person as he already knew ahead of time that Mr. Krum worked for the Germans and for a long period of time was feeding him with false information about the camp. Also, he is a very smart person as he says “mistakes are only mistakes if you don’t correct them”. This shows that he makes the camp better by asking the boys how they got in through the guards. Learning from his mistakes, he improves the guarding system throughout Camp X.
Setting: The story takes place during 1942 during World War II.In Whitby, Ontario, the setting takes place near Colbert’s Creek that leads to Camp X. Camp X is a secret spy training camp that trains Canadians as spy’s to fight at Germany during the World War II. Camp X is a restricted camp that is put near a forest and also has a giant tower for training for spies to parachute. Camp X is one of the many places that Germans attempt to sabotage.
Camp X is a 17 acre park named after the British Security Coordination (Intrepid Park). The water in Colbert’s Creek is somewhat warm and purified.This shows, the pollution rate of the lake between the camp is quite low and is purified. Problems, Challenges: One of the major problems George and Jack encountered had a positive and negative impact on both of them. Firstly, as George and Jack were playing make-believe war, they encountered a highly restricted camp in which they got caught. They were escorted home and asked never to return.
As they experienced intense curiosity, they returned and discovered military activities that occurred in the camp. Again, the two brothers got caught and interrogated for their information about the camp.However, they were asked to sign an agreement and it asked to never reveal any information to anybody about the camp even if they were tortured. In addition, they obtained a privilege that allowed them to participate in activities that they asked for. Later on, Mr. Krum and his German associates interrogated them and tortured them for the information that they knew about the camp.
As George experienced pressure, he told information about the camp and they were left tied to a chair while the Germans planned an attack on the camp.Then they cut themselves free and started walking towards the camp. The camp guards thought that it was another of their tricks so they did not let them proceed. As a result, they stole a jeep and injured themselves and Mr. Krum and his associates.
Their accident led them into going to the hospital for a day. Themes, Reflections: The author was trying to convey an important message to the reader; that is if you make a promise, you have to keep it. In the story, George and Jack made 2 promises to two different people.For example, the two boys made an agreement with the Lieutenant-Colonel at Camp X promising that they would not reveal any information about the camp and to participate in their spying activities. This shows that the boys must be reliable and responsible to not let any information they know out. Just while I was feeling the pressure from the torture the boys encountered, I felt happy that they broke through the chairs that they were tied upon and escaped to save Camp X from being attacked.
I (the reader) felt a sense of hope as they were considerate enough to race through time to help what their father was fighting for.The next example included Mr. Krum asking the 2 boys to stop going to the camp and reveal any information they gather and give it to Mr. Krum. In my opinion, the boys were smart and knowing that they already kept a promise with Camp X, they made Mr.
Krum feel like they were telling the truth. In addition, the boys fed Mr. Krum with false information so that their plan could not proceed. Conclusion: All in all, Camp X is an excellent story book that I highly recommend to all ages that are seeking for intense adventure.Despite the fact, that the book is recommend for 10-13 years of age, I recommend that the book could teach people to not only keep promises but to also to create humor for all ages. Though the book was published during 2002, it also ties in to the skill that could be learned currently through reading this book.
What I admire about this book is that at the end of every chapter, he leaves you in suspense into what could happen later in the book. Last but not least, readers reading this book could not only learn important skills but also have a positive attitude toward reading books.
