(2) 4-6 Since narrator Fern was six, she and her mother have lived on the Ranch, an isolated "sustainable futurist community" in upstate New York. Now twelve, Fern is completely accustomed to the unquestioned authority of Ranch leader Dr. Ben and his "ideals," which emphasize a reverence for nature. Readers may begin to realize long before the protagonist does that the Ranch's way of life has its flaws; as the story opens, a teen community member has died during a rite of passage. But still, when Mom recognizes those extremes and escapes to California with Fern, it's understandable that Fern finds the outside world scary and, even as she begins to reacclimate, is determined to find a way to go "home." As in Lasagna Means I Love You (rev. 3/23), O'Shaughnessy presents a high-stakes situation and zeroes in on a child narrator's believable emotions. That tight focus on the young narrator even when she is misguided or doesn't have all the facts allows readers to draw their own conclusions based on the gradually increasing information she has -- about the events that led her mother to choose the Ranch, and in separating what can sound like positive environmentalist values from the dangerous reality of a cult.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(2) YA James, twelve, and his precocious sister Ava, ten, have moved from Texas to Oregon with their parents, and James is bitter about having his entire life uprooted. The siblings struggle to adjust to their new surroundings, amping up a prank war to the extent that they start hurting each other's feelings for real. When the kids begin finding mysterious and threatening letters from "the Keeper" around the house, their parents assume it's all just another prank. James and Ava realize they're going to have to solve the mystery of the letters on their own, and fast, because the Blood Moon is approaching and the Keeper has warned James that he must act before then. James and Ava's Mexican American family dynamic is realistically portrayed, and secondary characters are well drawn, as well. As they investigate their neighbors and the history of their almost-too-idyllic gated community, James and Ava learn that they aren't the first children to be threatened. The story's pace is slow but the mystery is intriguing, and determined readers will be satisfied with the surprising and sinister (involving a cult and human sacrifice) denouement.

Reviewer: Sarah Berman

(2) YA Micah and his parents have disappeared. Right before winter break they stepped into a white van, and Micah's girlfriend Sesame hasn't seen them since. Her only clues to Micah's whereabouts are a cryptic message on his kitchen whiteboard and what he shared before he was taken: his parents had joined a cult led by a man called The Prophet. In dual first-person voices in alternating chapters, Sesame and Micah harrowingly describe their experiences. While Sesame, living in an abandoned garage since her beloved grandmother's death, frantically searches the snowy streets of Minneapolis, distributing missing-person posters and trying to compel local authorities to take action, Micah suffers solitary confinement and starvation under The Prophet's rule in an underground bunker. The vital necessity of personal connection and questions of power and abuse underpin this compelling plot, with reverberations from the recent Nxivm cult revelations and convictions.

Reviewer: Jennifer Hubert Swan | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) YA Agnes breaks the rules of her isolated fundamentalist community to treat her younger brother Ezekiel's diabetes. She remains otherwise faithful, even keeping herself from hearing the voice of God because Red Creek doesn't allow women to be prophets. Her sister Beth is more rebellious, but at a moment of crisis, the sisters' roles reverse. Beth obediently follows the community into the bunker where they plan to hide from the pandemic ravaging the world, while Agnes flees with Ezekiel to the outsiders who have been supplying insulin. Both sisters learn about Red Creek's corruption and how to fight its limitations, particularly as Agnes reestablishes her prophetic abilities and realizes she is able to bring the pandemic to an end. The writing is vivid ("The otherworldly humming...was like spectral armor, a cloak that billowed and let nothing evil near") and compelling, with a complex cast of characters moving the story forward as McWilliams presents a nuanced interrogation of faith, knowledge, and duty. The book combines elements of cult and pandemic stories in a fresh take on themes that now have an unanticipated relevance. The result is a solid novel that is both page-turning and thought-provoking.

Reviewer: Sarah Rettger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(3) YA After learning that her archaeologist father's death was faked by "crazy-pants cultists" hell-bent on resurrecting the Egyptian god of chaos, eighteen-year-old Memphis ("M") races to locate ancient artifacts to trade for her father's life. Smart and spunky, M jets around the world--and shares narration--with Ash Sood, a member of a rival cult. Mythology, religion, and magic broaden this international adventure novel.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. Cult leader Jonathan Thorne dupes Gabe and his friends into merging the hellish dimension of Arcadia with San Francisco. Thorne's victory seems inevitable, but the young elementalists have one last chance to prevent the villain from transforming the entire world. This finale maintains the series hallmarks of multifaceted characters and astonishing powers but is hampered by an overly long climactic battle.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) YA Things didn't end well (in Blood and Salt) between Ash and her blood-bonded love, Dane. But when he returns with an ambitious plan that involves finding her missing twin brother, Ash agrees to help. In spite of some flat secondary characters, this atmospheric tale's exploration of alchemy, fate, and the Gothic mystery at its center should enthrall fans of tortured romances.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(3) 4-6 In this origin story, future Black Panther T'Challa is twelve and attending middle school in Chicago while his father the king deals with a hostile invasion of Wakanda. From this unlikely premise Smith weaves a taut and nuanced tale as T'Challa must keep his identity secret, negotiate a new culture, make friends, and uncover and foil the scheme of a dangerous dark-magic cult.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) YA Because Rooney's mother truly believes that she'll be departing Earth with the Next World Society this November, it's up to high-school senior Rooney to navigate the pressures of this world for her younger brother and herself. Van Dam thoughtfully considers how mental illness interacts with the scariness of the modern world while simultaneously honoring how hard it is just to get through high school.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(2) YA In this hair-raising Australian import, the Special Ones live on a secluded farm, brainwashed into believing they have been reincarnated; their main task is providing spiritual guidance to their internet followers. A sharp (clearly intentional) midpoint plot-turn helps define the book as an affecting study of psychological manipulation and emotional resilience. Bailey's latest thriller features an impressively eerie tone, goosebumps-inducing atmosphere, and genuine surprises.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2017

(4) YA Seventeen-year-old Van and her caretaker, Ida, have always lived a peripatetic existence thanks to Van's mother, an inspired businesswoman prone to erraticism. When the trio arrives in Las Vegas, Van begins to forge her own identity in a rock band. This moving coming-of-age story unfortunately veers off course when Van's mother disappears into the desert with a cult and the teen must bring her home.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. Having escaped the Eternal Dawn on Alcatraz, Gabe and his fellow child-elementalists (The Emerald Tablet) must combine their powers to destroy the hellish dimension of Arcadia. While the Dawn cultists work to merge Earth with Arcadia and to resurrect their leader, a traitor close to Gabe could ruin everything. Despite overdone gore and a convoluted plot, the novel's deepening character relationships and stunning magic will satisfy fans.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) YA After his father dies, Clay can't ignore signs of devil worship in his small Oklahoma town. As fellow teens start dying, Clay has to figure out what's real and what's his own delusion. Clay's unreliable narration is the source of much of the tension. Readers interested in religious horror may be able to look past the jumbled plot to follow the mystery.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers

(4) YA Cara has always been the one organizing her best friend Mailee's life; but when Cara gets swept up in a remote-Montana commune that seems more like a cult, Mailee must take charge for a change to save her friend. A riveting premise, topical issues, and a realistic portrayal of teen friendship are pluses, but the story is marred by its far-fetched climax.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(3) 4-6 Taken from a constantly illuminated cult compound, Zylynn seeks to return by her thirteenth birthday, before she misses her "Rite of Passage" and the outside "Darkness" consumes her. The possibility of a new start--with color, shampoo, and other seeming luxuries--is tempting, but Zylynn resists reintegration into the outside world. Her internal conflict grounds an affecting exploration of truth, belief, and family.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. When Gabe and his three friends enact a binding ritual (thinking it will secure their friendship forever), they inadvertently join themselves to mystical powers. Together with a ghostly boy, they must use their new abilities to stop a cult bent on fusing Earth with a hellish parallel dimension. Surprisingly gruesome at times, the convoluted story is bolstered by complex characters and dazzling elemental powers.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(2) YA Bex does not consider herself a survivalist. She's "about the prep, not the politics or racist bullshit"; a "realist who plans to survive" whatever disaster occurs. But when closeted lesbian Bex meets Lucy and they start a relationship, Bex's world becomes infinitely more complicated. Readers are sure to be drawn in by Bex's unusual perspective and her heart-wrenching, timely story.

Reviewer: Kazia Berkley-Cramer | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(3) YA Breezy knows she's undead but not much else. Why can she identify murderers, kill with a touch, and steal memories? Breezy explores the grim world of paranormal creatures--including monsters worse than herself--but can't progress in her new existence until she faces the truth about her death. Wallace tenderly herds Breezy from avoidance to acceptance in a satisfyingly bittersweet ending.

Reviewer: Amy Bennett-Zendzian

(4) YA Stephen moves to uber-rural Michigan, where his increasingly sinister new friends believe in the local legend of the "Winged Ones," monsters who periodically demand human sacrifice. Brewer effectively mines the gray area between supernatural and psychological explanations for each strange occurrence, but the stereotypical depiction of rural residents as either ignorant bigots or psychopathic nonconformists mars the narrative.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(2) YA In Vivian Apple at the End of the World, Vivian discovered that the cultlike Church of America staged the supposed Rapture. Set on bringing down the Church with this knowledge, Viv and best friend Harp join an extreme militia of anti-Church revolutionaries of which Viv's long-lost sister Winnie is a leader. Nonstop twists and breathless action are just part of this sequel's appeal.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015