Down From the Mountain by Elizabeth Fixmer - ESSENTIAL

Fixmer, Elizabeth Down From the Mountain, 276 pages.  Albert Whitman, 2016.  $10.  Language: PG (5 swears, 0 ‘f’’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.

Eva has been part of the Righteous Path since she was five years old, brought by her mother.  Now she is fifteen and the strictures of the Path chaff a little.  When she is chosen to go into Boulder to sell her beautiful jewelry designs, because the Path is desperate for money.  She even wonders if the fasts that the Prophet has ordained are because there isn’t enough money for food, rather something commanded by God.  A couple of kind strangers help Eva see that not all outsiders are evil, but escape will not be easy. 

Another excellent book about religious cults to add to Michele Green’s Keep Sweet and Carol Lynch William’s The Chosen One.  Written with dignity and tenderness with a realistic outlook.  Now I want to see a book written from a boy’s point of view.

MS, HS – ESSENTIAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher