In this unconventional story from debut author Sumrow, readers will find courage and resilience in unlikely heroine Gentry. Gentry and her 21 siblings live in an isolated, polygamous religious community in New Mexico called Watchful. Though the exact belief system and religion are unspecified, it is a Christian sect that focuses on apocalyptic teachings. The community's religious leader hind bars from the novel's start ill controls every aspect of the church, including decisions on when and whom young women marry. When Gentry and her brother, Tanner, sneak off to play their violins at a nearby music festival, the Prophet takes it out on her family by excommunicating Tanner. Before long, the whole family is banished to Watchful's sister town in Canada, Waiting. Sumrow's story rests on some predictable and dubious stereotypes that, especially unfortunate for a middle-grade audience, go negligently unchallenged. Even so, Sumrow crafts a captivating and memorable story with a protagonist who ultimately makes a harrowing, courageous decision.

Thirteen-year-old Gentry feels trapped in a polygamous walled community ruled by the words of a prophet incarcerated in Texas.Gentry and her older brother Tanner are excited to receive an invitation to play their violins at a local music festival, but when the Prophet calls to forbid women from leaving the compound, Gentry's hopes are dashed. Tanner decides to sneak Gentry out to perform, but defying the Prophet carries consequences. Restrictions, harsh physical punishment, and ejection from the community are meted out at the whims of the leadership. Tanner and Gentry's disobedience forces her family to make desperate decisions. Lifted straight from the headlines, Gentry's tale is a harrowing reality for splinter groups of the LDS Church. Unfortunately, while the details are horrific, there is no attempt to qualify the judgment leveled against all Mormons. The story is compelling, but the use of stereotypes undercuts its power. The sadistic Prophet's son, the pedophilic leader, and complicit women are predictable place holders for real characters. Gentry's naiveté about the reality of the outside world is understandable, but she seems equally clueless about her own, all-white community. Violence against animals and children as well as sadistic treatment of a girl with Down syndrome might further make this a difficult read for younger children despite the publisher's designation of a middle-grade audience for it.Harrowing and realistic but slanted toward sensationalism. (Fiction. 12-14)

Growing up inside the protective walls of Watchful-a polygamous Mormon offshoot community set in New Mexico-s foothills-13-year-old Gentry strives to be an obedient daughter. But Gentry loves playing her new violin, and after the incarcerated Prophet prohibits women from leaving the compound during his weekly call, she and her brother sneak out to play in a music festival, and her whole family is severely punished as a result. Her brother is banished, their food rations are cut, and her father is sent away, stripped of his wives and children, to repent having -lost control over his family.- Left with a fragmented family and ever-stricter rules, Gentry is filled with inner turmoil (-I know what-s right, so why doesn-t it feel right?-) about the community leaders- abuses and control, among them corporal punishment, cruelty to a child with Down syndrome, marrying off young women, and demanding full obedience under another name--keeping sweet.- Though the story clearly conveys the dangers of manipulation, it also sensationalizes the community it portrays, all of which may prove tough for readers at the younger end of the stated age range. Ages 10-14. Agent: Rick Richter, Aevitas Creative Management. (Nov.)