The Prophet Calls by Melanie Sumrow - ADVISABLE

The Prophet Calls by Melanie Sumrow, 278 pages.  Yellow Jacket (Little Bee), 2018.  $17.

Language: G; Mature Content: PG (polygamy); Violence: PG (some hitting)

BUYING ADVISORY:  MS – OPTIONAL, HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Gentry,13, has lived in a polygamous community all her life, but as she gets older, she knows she doesn’t fit in the marrow mold her family and community have dictated for her.  Her father indulges her at home, but when she is caught by the elders, she is punished – and then her father is punished too. Gentry knows she must find a way to escape, especially when the Prophet calls from his jail cell and demands that she marry her tormentor. 

I am dying to know if Sumrow is connected to a polygamous community or if her research focused on Warren Jeffs’ polygamist community, because being from Utah I felt like I was reading a book specifically about that particular group.  It’s hard to judge it through the lens of someone who is unfamiliar with the fringe group.  I think it would work well in other places as an introduction to that group and the secretive  inner workings of the community.  

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS