A humorous, fictionalized coming-of-age story of a brainy, awkward boy with a touch of OCD. Growing up in the ’fifties and ’sixties, Arty dreams of becoming a cadet, inspired by The West Point Story on TV. A quiet, shy kid from a working-class family in a small Kansas town, Arty lacking belief in himself ultimately gives up on his childhood fantasy.  

His father, however, remembers. A postal clerk who trained as an Army Air Corps pilot in WWII, Arty’s dad latches onto his son’s childhood dream. This Arty discovers with dismay at age 17, when his father shockingly buys a brand-new, sky-blue, 1966 Ford Custom four-door sedan—with the intention of driving his son to West Point in style.

This act unleashes a series of slap-stick adventures as our hero struggles to check off all the necessary requirements to gain admittance to an elite military academy— by “building a resume” including to letter in a sport despite a glaring lack of athletic ability. Arty never nabs an appointment to West Point, the oldest U.S. military academy, but by some lucky breaks and his own perseverance he earns an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy, the newest.  

Affectionately dubbed the “Blue Zoo” by cadets, USAFA was designed to give newbies the blues from the moment they first pass under the giant stone portico that famously announced, “Bring Me Men.” How does Arty do in his summer training at the Zoo? Will he make the grade and earn his coveted shoulder boards? Based on actual events, The Blue Zoo relates our hero’s mock-epic struggles from Basic Cadet Training through Hell Week and recognition as a member of the cadet wing. He suffers a five-shave day before learning proper grooming; incoordination makes his marching robotic; decidedly a dork, he must nevertheless conquer the grueling obstacle course cursed as “Hell’s Half Acre.”

The Blue Zoo takes place in more innocent times and is based on events of sixty years ago, yet the voice, dreams and experience of Arty Greenspring still ring true today. The odyssey of an odd boy that readers of all ages will enjoy, The Blue Zoo is a classic American coming-of-age story of a self-described “country bumpkin” who adventures out into the world to prove himself in the process of pursuing his boyhood dream.