When twelve-year-old Fern Silvana and her mother leave the only home Fern has ever known, she's less than willing to forgive her mother for her decisiWhen twelve-year-old Fern Silvana and her mother leave the only home Fern has ever known, she's less than willing to forgive her mother for her decision to leave their self-sustaining community in upstate New York. Even those there are strict rules and the members live off the grid, growing their own food, avoiding cellphones and contact with the outside world, Fern feels comfortable there and loyal to the leader, Dr. Ben. As her mother drives cross country to Driftaway Beach, California, all Fern can do is think of some way to return to what's familiar to her. Over time, though, as her new friend Eddie asks questions with difficult answers and her mother tells her about some of the negative aspects of The Ranch, Fern begins to think she's wrong about what she thinks is the truth. Maybe the outside world isn't so bad, after all. She loves the library and some of the sweet treats Babs, a family friend of her mother, bakes. As she questions everything she's been taught to believe, she still plots to find a way to contact Dr. Ben and return to The Ranch. She quickly realizes that she's made a mistake on the return trip, managing to escape in a dramatic restaurant scene. The author effectively depicts Fern's gradual disillusionment with some of Dr. Ben's teachings and Dr. Ben himself while also portraying Eddie, Babs, and Fern's mother, who seems to always be looking for happiness in the next place or the next place, so vividly that readers will care what happens to them. This is one of those middle-grade books that touch readers' hearts and stay with them long after the last page has been turned. It reminds them/us of the importance of home and a place of our own. ...more
As is the case for many, I remain fascinated by true crime stories, serial killers, and charismatic individuals. Having been a young adult when the neAs is the case for many, I remain fascinated by true crime stories, serial killers, and charismatic individuals. Having been a young adult when the news about the mass suicides in Jonestown broke back in November 1978, I wanted to learn more now that I had more time on my hands to read whatever caught my fancy. This account of Jim Jones and his rise to power in the Peoples Temple, a congregation that moved from place to place, eventually settling in Guyana, where most of them died, is fascinating and truly deserves all the accolades it has received. It truly is the definitive book about the path that led Jones and his followers to Jonestown. While some readers might wish that more details about those last hours before Jones and his followers died would have been provided, this author spends much more time describing his subject's formative years and growing involvement in religion--but a religion as he envisioned it and one with socialist leanings. While many will argue that Jones was a con man through and through, even from the beginning, this book seems a bit more sympathetic, granting the possibility that his intentions were good at the start, and somehow, along the way, he veered off course. What is not debatable is how he ultimately took advantage of his followers, many of them poor and marginalized, and used his position and power to intimidate others, indulging in various excesses that seemed to run counter to his image and expressed beliefs. Based on plentiful research and interviews, this book peels back some of the layers that comprised Jim Jones, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions, and to wonder how dreams can turn into nightmares and what they would have done if they'd been part of that Jonestown community. ...more
Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan deals with Montreal's extreme cold at her excavation sites where church officials hope she can find evidencForensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan deals with Montreal's extreme cold at her excavation sites where church officials hope she can find evidence supporting the sainthood of one woman buried there. But her work is never focused on one task or crime, and while she's investigating that case, she is distracted by the death by fire of a couple and two infants. Who would expect that there would be a link from this tragedy to a cult in the southern part of the United States? As readers have come to expect from books by this author, there are wonderfully precise details about Tempe's work throughout the book. As an added bonus, her relationship with Andrew Ryan looks to be heating up. The author's storytelling might be a bit formulaic since there's always some sort of personal connection to the crimes being described--in this case, it's her sister Harry who is at risk--but it's still fun to watch everything unfold and see Tempe's character being fleshed out. She's certainly not perfect, prone to a hair-trigger temper and jealousy, but those characteristics make her all the more relatable and keep readers coming back for more....more
Wow! This futuristic novel was quite different from the average read. Sixteen-year-old Benji, a trans boy has fled the fundamentalist Christian cult wWow! This futuristic novel was quite different from the average read. Sixteen-year-old Benji, a trans boy has fled the fundamentalist Christian cult where he was raised. Their leaders have decided to hasten the end of time through a virus that decays the human body from within. Hmm! In some respects that sounds a lot like COVID-19 and its early days. There's no way the cult will leave Benji alone since he is their Seraph and presumed secret weapon. But Benji is determined not to return to the fold. He is befriended by a group of teens living in the Acheson LGBTQ+ Center (ALC), led by Nick, who is on the autism spectrum and a fierce fighter. Nick knows the truth about Benji's nascent monster that he's keeping at bay, but he's also hiding something as well. He agrees to keep silent if Benji can harness his power for good. The plot itself is fascinating, original, and I could certainly see something like this playing its way out in the future as our nation and world become increasingly divided. The scenes in which the ALC trade the ears of their victims in the cult for food and supplies were rather grisly but quite telling about the conditions of this brave new world in which they're living. There is quite a lot of violence and gore, and readers will probably need to put the book aside for a few moments after some of the passages. What is especially noteworthy about this debut novel is how the queer characters aren't victims but are determined to stand up for themselves and save whatever parts of the world are worth saving. They are decidedly NOT victims. And while the world building is strong and some of the characters well developed, I never had the sense that I knew or understood any of the members of the Vanguard or the Angels. A bit more background and detail about them would have enhanced my appreciation of the story. There are parts of the story that I just didn't understand, but that didn't hinder my rapt reading of it and my reflection about the monsters that often lie beneath even the best intentions. ...more
Many readers, especially teens, are fascinated by what draws humans to cults or religious sects. In this novel narrated by seventeen-year-old Piper, tMany readers, especially teens, are fascinated by what draws humans to cults or religious sects. In this novel narrated by seventeen-year-old Piper, they might not find all the answers to those particular questions, but they will learn some of what makes them appealing to their members. The author does a fine job of describing the disorientation experienced by Piper once she is no longer living with the individuals she has known as Father and Mother as well as how hard it is for her to trust her own parents as she pieces her life back together. I liked the use of the Before and After sections in the book since they allowed me to see what Piper was experiencing and how deeply she believed in her father's message about the end of the world and the need to remain sequestered from the rest of the world. But once she realizes the truth and how she came to live in this commune of sorts, she is devastated. I can only imagine how it would feel to have everything that you believed turn out to be false and to be unable to even recognize yourself. Although I would have liked to have known more about what made Curtis--Piper's father--so appealing to his followers, especially Angela, that isn't the story that's told here, and probably to meet the interests of its intended audience, that was a good choice. Certainly, the title fits the book's contents perfectly. I read this book, all the while thinking of some of the famous cults such as Charles Manson, David Koresh, and Jim Jones, and wondering which other ones are out there and how easy it is to fall under the sway of a charismatic person. Many teens will be riveted by this book, and maybe reading it will keep them safe from such a person or movement as well as encouraging them to ask questions and not just accept everything at face value. There were a couple of times when I wondered about the language the protagonist used, given how sheltered her life had been. These details aren't likely to mar readers' enjoyment of the story....more
**spoiler alert** Things started out promisingly enough for me with this book. I liked the creepy tulip with what looks to be a red tulip overlaid wit**spoiler alert** Things started out promisingly enough for me with this book. I liked the creepy tulip with what looks to be a red tulip overlaid with barbed wire. I wasn't too annoyed when the heroine, Scarlett Garner, falls hard for new boy, Noah, and he seems just as enamored with her. But alarm bells rang in my head when he was unfamiliar with Oreos and television and movie nights, and I quickly jumped to the correct conclusion that he must have been involved with a cult or some sort of radical sect at some point in his upbringing. Since Scarlett is unable to remember anything that happened before she turned four, she feels unsettled by that vacuum. Truth be told I would think most of us can only remember a few of the things that happened to us before we turned that age either so I was not sure what the big deal about that was. Because the story is told from two narrators, Scarlett and Noah, readers have the chance to have different perspectives on what's happening. I was disappointed in Noah for many reasons, and simply could not stomach how he could claim to care about Scarlett and then buy into the cult leader's insistence that sacrificing her would somehow insure his followers eternal life. Surely he was smarter than that. While I tried to like this one--I really did--it was hard to like any of the characters very much. The members of the cult were one-dimensional and somewhat (!) deluded, and seemed to buy into the notion that Scarlett would go along with their plans when any red-blooded, self-respecting, and aware human being would not have. Scarlett spent too much time sulking and being angry with her parents, and Noah was just too good to be true. Since the book ends on a note that seems to indicate further adventures for the couple, I would imagine there may be a sequel. If so, the characters need to be developed a bit more so that readers care about them. Without the complication of Noah's betrayal, the book would have lost its steam along the way. ...more
Seventeen-year-old Rachel Walker is a good girl and just about always does the right thing, not always easy when much of the responsibility for the faSeventeen-year-old Rachel Walker is a good girl and just about always does the right thing, not always easy when much of the responsibility for the family falls on one's shoulders. After all, she has eight siblings for whom she cares, and while her mother does her share, Rachel and her little sister Ruth carry a lot of the burden for cooking, cleaning, and teaching since the children are all homeschooled. Rachel follows the teachings of her fundamentalist church, Calvary Christian, and takes care to dress modestly. But she loves to read and spends hours reading and daydreaming about A Wrinkle in Time, a cheap paperback that she persuaded her mother to buy. The return of a teen boy from a work camp intended to bring him back to the straight and narrow and of Lauren, a former church member who left the church for the city, prompt soul-searching on Rachel's part and she questions some of the church's practices. When she eventually makes contact with Lauren, the young woman helps her when no one else will, and the world and its possibilities begin to open up to her. As Rachel takes her first halting steps toward independence and living a fulfilling life, most interestingly, she does not forsake her faith and still finds comfort in a relationship with God. Her story is told engagingly, sympathetically, and without entirely dismissing her family's way of life. Her joy is palpable when she realizes that there are other books by the author of A Wrinkle in Time. But her agony in realizing that her father will no longer even allow her to visit the rest of her family now that she has left the fold is heartbreaking. There was a time a couple of decades ago when there was much discussion of religious cults like this one. I'm not sure how many of them exist today, but I do now that teens make choices every day about how to live their lives. This book celebrates the possibilities that lie ahead for all of us. ...more
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