Eden West

February 2, 2015
In this haunting drama, Hautman (the Klaatu Diskos trilogy) gets inside the head of a teenage boy who has grown up as part of an apocalyptic Christian cult in Montana. Seventeen-year-old Jacob is part of the Grace, a community that dwells in the so-called land of Nodd while waiting for the Archangel Zerachiel to return and destroy the unbelievers of the outside World. During an eventful year, Jacob’s faith and beliefs are tested repeatedly as the Grace suffers losses and tragedies, with its members dying or departing and newcomers acting like snakes in the Garden. When Father Grace takes the girl Jacob loves as yet another wife, Jacob’s disillusionment grows, but it’s Lynna, the beguiling, Worldly girl from next door who tempts him with outside delights and a sense of freedom. Hautman captures the cultish mind-set easily while showing just how fragile its foundation can be. Jacob is sympathetic in his role as conflicted believer, though the sheer number of tribulations facing the Grace turns Jacob’s crisis of faith into something of an inevitability. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer Flannery, Flannery Literary.

February 1, 2015
Jacob's faith and commitment to his cult's restrictive lifestyle waver when he meets two outsider teens who introduce ideas from the outside world.Cult leader Father Grace's fire-and-brimstone preachings about Armageddon require that followers adhere to an ascetic lifestyle. But Jacob's burgeoning sexuality and his attraction to Lynna, a Worldly girl on the neighboring ranch who provides him with tantalizing hints of life beyond the cult's chain-link fence, spur him to begin scrutinizing the cult leadership. Jacob's misgivings grow when Tobias, a troubled new arrival to the cult, bluntly and relentlessly calls the leadership and lifestyle of the cult "bullshit." Though readers may sympathize with Jacob's crisis of faith, their overall engagement with the novel may suffer from Hautman's reliance on popular stereotypes of cult lifestyles. Many of his worldbuilding tools, from the terminally boring food to Father Grace's polygamy and fixation on teenage wives, have been explored in books for teens before. Hautman does resist painting the world beyond the cult as perfect-politicians are corrupt and Lynna's uncle attempts to molest her-but these harsh realities only make Jacob's alternative of life outside of the cult sound as grim as life inside. Ultimately, this is no more than a surface-level exploration of nontraditional religious faith. (Fiction. 14-18)

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Starred review from February 1, 2015
Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* Jacob lives in Nodd, a fenced-in compound in Montana run by Father Grace, who demands faith, loyalty, and a total rejection of the outside world. Men and women are separated, all work hard to sustain their land and livestock, and disobedience is severely punished. It's all Jacob knows, though he has a few fleeting memories of his life before, and he has internalized Father Grace's ideas about condemnation, penance, and the impending doomsday. In his matter-of-fact voice, laced with old-fashioned turns of phrase and a parochial vocabulary, Jacob narrates the story of Nodd's downfall, beginning with the appearance of a wolf that preys on their sheep and a chance meeting with a beautiful, worldly girl on the other side of the fence as well as the arrival of an angry outsider who's desperate to leave. Is Father Grace truly a conduit for the divine? Can Jacob be righteous even if he strays from Nodd's strict path? And what, exactly, constitutes goodness? While projecting a unique and expressive voice in Jacob, Hautman sensitively and gracefully explores powerful ideas about faith and church communities, keeping a deft balance between criticism of religious fervor and deep respect for faith and belief. Thought-provoking and quietly captivating.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2015
Seventeen-year-old Brother Jacob describes his life inside Nodd, twelve square miles of land in Montana surrounded by an eight-foot-high, razor-wire-topped chain-link fence. The Grace live here, led by Father Grace, protected from a World filled with wild animals and evil men and wicked women and awaiting the End Days. Nodd is pretty much all Jacob has known, having arrived with his parents when he was five, so when he encounters two Worldly outsiders, it's a bit of a shock. Lynna lives on a neighboring ranch, and they meet ( Hey, Cult Boy ) while Jacob is patrolling the border fence. He befriends her, despite rules about shunning nonbelievers; he's curious, but he's also angry that Sister Ruth, the girl he'd hoped to marry, has instead become Father Grace's fourth wife. Jacob learns even more about the outside world through angry fellow teen Tobias, a new arrival at Nodd. Tobias's scorn at Jacob's beliefs soon turns to horror at the group's methods of punishment, pushing Jacob to question everything he believes in. Through his narration, readers witness Jacob's emerging doubts and painful self-retribution for what he feels are his sinful thoughts. While Hautman's depiction of the cult members may not always be convincing (does Jacob's mom, who has given up so many basic rights, really still long for double cappuccinos?), his portrayal of Jacob's emotional turmoil is hauntingly believable, and the story's examination of religious faith and fervor is wholly absorbing. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2015
Seventeen-year-old Brother Jacob lives inside Nodd, twelve square miles of fenced-in land in Montana where "the Grace" await the End Days. Two Worldly outsiders--Lynna, who lives on a neighboring ranch, and Tobias, an angry new arrival in Nodd--push Jacob to question everything he believes in. Jacob's emotional turmoil is hauntingly believable, and the examination of religious faith and fervor is wholly absorbing.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from February 1, 2015

Gr 10 Up-Since he was five years old, Jacob has lived inside the Nodd, 12 square miles of Montana land that he works on along with other members of the Grace. Jacob has been taught that the world is wicked and that the Grace will return to Heaven on an ark that the Prophet Zerachiel will be sending shortly-it is The Truth. Jacob's world begins to turn upside down with the arrival of several beings. Tobias's family travels from Colorado to join the Grace-and yet Tobias won't stop questioning and pushing against The Truth. During his patrols along the Grace's border, Jacob meets Lynna, a worldly girl with whom he should not interact-but he cannot help but be attracted to her. The third newcomer, a lone wolf, begins to slowly kill off the sheep and threaten the well-being of all the Grace. Jacob's faith is tested as he struggles to reconcile what he knows to be The Truth and what is happening around him. Hautman delivers a captivating character study, studiously demonstrating the reasons why some people are drawn into cults and quietly revealing how unquestioned power turns rotten. Jacob is a realistic and relatable protagonist and his complex relationships with those around him-and himself-ring true. Eden West is both quiet and loud, understanding and judging, and absolutely engrossing. Readers will be quick to judge the Grace but may find themselves looking inward to their own beliefs as they move through the story. VERDICT A heartbreaking, uplifting, and fantastic read.-Emily Moore, Camden County Library System, NJ

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