The wave door Morton Rhue

Title
The Wave

Author
Morton Rhue

Publisher
Heinemann New Windmills

Title
The title of the book is The Wave. The book is called The Wave because the book is all about The Wave. The Wave is an experiment of Ben Ross, he is a history teacher. He wants to give them a taste of what life in Nazi Germany might have been like.

Setting
The story takes place in Palo Alto, California in 1969. It is based on a true story.

Theme
I haven't got any idea.


Main characters
Laurie Saunders: editor-in-chief of The Grapevine. She is a very popular girl at Gordon High. She was against The Wave.

Ben Ross: A history teacher who wants to give the students a taste of what life in Nazi Germany might have been like.

David Collings: Laurie’s boyfriend. He was in The Wave but when he started hurting Laurie he realised what The Wave had done to him.

Minor characters
Robert Billing, Brian Ammon, Christy Ross and all the other people who were in The Wave.

Plot outline
Laurie Saunders is a very popular girl at Gordon High. She is editor-in-chief of the Grapevine. She and her boyfriend David Collins have history class together. Their teacher, Ben Ross, shows them a movie about the atrocities the Nazi’s committed in their concentration camps. The kids were shocked. They couldn’t believe something like that really happened, that no one stopped them.
The next day Ben wants to try an experiment. He wants to give his students a taste of what life in Nazi Germany might have been like. He was certain it would make far more of an impression on the students than any book explanation could ever make. He writes on the blackboard ‘STRENGTH THROUGH DISCIPLINE’. All the kids are wondering why he did that. Then they need to place their hands flat across the small of their back and force their spine straight up. Then they have to walk around the classroom and when Ben tells them to go back to their own place they have to do that as quick as possible and assume the sitting position. Every time they want to ask something they have to say ‘Mr. Ross’ first.
The next day he writes on the blackboard ‘STRENGTH THROUGH COMMUNITY’. He says to the class: ‘From now on, our movement will be known as ‘The Wave’. The other motto is: 'STRENGTH THROUGH ACTION'. The kids are really going to believe in The Wave, but not everyone. Laurie isn’t sure about this Wave thing. Her mom thinks it is too militaristic. David and Brian believe it is just what the football team needs. But it doesn’t just stay in the history class and the football team. Kids from other classes join The Wave and they even skip their own class to go to the Ben’s class. But then some kids are even starting to use violence to get the other kids to join The Wave. Even the ‘losers’ like Robert Billings are equal to the other kids now.

David starts to believe in The Wave more and more and one day he even breaks up with Laurie because she doesn’t want to join The Wave. Ben knows it is getting out of control but he can’t stop it, not yet. Laurie tries to convince her best friend Amy Smith that she shouldn’t join The Wave. But Amy believes in The Wave just like all the other kids.
One day Ben and David are sitting in Brian’s car. They are waiting for Laurie to go home. It is already late because Laurie has been working on the Grapevine. When they see her David gets out the car. He wants her to stop writing about The Wave. When Laurie doesn’t want to do that David overcomes with anger. He throws her down on the grass. Suddenly he realizes what he is doing and what The Wave has done to him. Together they go to Ben that evening. They want to make him clear that The Wave has gone too far. Ben already realized that and he already wanted to stop it.
The next day he organises a Wave rally. He tells the Wave members that they have to come because the national leader of The Wave will appear on cable television to announce the formation of National Wave Youth Movement. David and Laurie are getting angry. This was not what Ben had promised them. Ben tells them to go to Principal Owen’s room because the have interrupted the class. That afternoon Ben shows The Wave members the same movie he has showed the history class. The are all shocked to find out what the truth is, that The Wave is not good, but they have learned a very good lesson.

My Opinion
I think it is a very good book. The story is based on a true incident. I can’t believe people are still so stupid to do something like this after what Hitler did in the Second World War. They had just seen a movie about it. Only a few people realize what The Wave really is, and how bad it is. Ben should have done something before. He shouldn’t have let it go so far.