The Prophet Calls

by Melanie Sumrow

Overview

Gentry Forrester feels lucky to live among God's chosen people in the Prophet's compound, but when music is outlawed, Gentry and her older brother, Tanner, sneak out of the community. When they return, all bets are off as the Prophet exercises his control.

Born into a polygamous community in the foothills of New Mexico, Gentry Forrester feels lucky to live among God's chosen, apart from the outside world and its "evils."

On her thirteenth birthday, Gentry receives a new violin from her father and, more than anything, she wants to play at the Santa Fe Music Festival with her brother, Tanner. But then the Prophet calls from prison and announces he has outlawed music in their community and now forbids women to leave.

Determined to play, Gentry and Tanner sneak out. But once they return, the Prophet exercises control from prison, and it has devastating consequences for Gentry and her family. Soon, everything Gentry has known is turned upside down. She begins to question the Prophet's teachings and his revelations, especially when his latest orders put Gentry's family in danger. Can Gentry find a way to protect herself and her family from the Prophet and escape the only life she's ever known?

This realistic, powerful story of family, bravery, and following your dreams is a can't-miss debut novel from Melanie Sumrow.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781499808131
Publisher:	little bee books
Publication date:	11/06/2018
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Melanie Sumrow is a middle grade and young adult author. The Prophet Calls is her debut novel. Find out more about her at melaniesumrow.com.

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2018
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.)

Publishers Weekly

Readers will love Gentry Forrester-a brave girl who questions the world around her and finds her own answers. A fantastic debut by Melanie Sumrow.

Erin Entrada Kelly

2018-09-02

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)

Kirkus Reviews