the sacred lies of minnow bly by stephanie oakes

Published in 2015, it tells the story of a teenage girl with no hands who ends up in juvenile detention after escaping from a religious cult. Ages 14 up.The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly is a young adult psychological thriller by Stephanie Oakes. Minnow was five when her parents followed Prophet Kevin into the wilderness to found a rustic commune of Kevinians, who worship the God Charlie and obey prophesies divinely dictated to Kevin, such as, 'It is my Commandment that ye do again this task, with Minnow, daughter of Samuel, for she be in need of spiritual intervention of the kind that marriage provides.' The narrative weaves between the hellish prison of the past that Minnow longed to escape and the juvenile prison she enters, which becomes an unexpected haven where she learns to read, make friends, and 'think about the universe, and the earth, and the stars.' As Minnow recounts both shocking cruelty and acts of kindness most movingly from her one friend outside the commune, the boy she assaulted, and her 'lifer' cellmate suspense, dread, and hope intermingle in Oakes's charged, page-turning debut. Gorgeously written, breathlessly page-turning and sprinkled with moments of unexpected humor, this harrowing debut is perfect for readers of Emily Murdoch's If You Find Me and Nova Ren Suma's The Walls Around Us, as well as for fans of Orange is the New Black.Ī harrowing opening scene immerses readers in 17-year-old narrator Minnow's trauma, as she responds to a perceived threat with astonishing brutality, while carrying the skeletal remains of her own amputated hands. But when an FBI detective approaches her about making a deal, Minnow sees she can have the freedom she always dreamed of-if she’s willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.

As she languishes in juvenile detention, she struggles to un-learn everything she has been taught to believe, adjusting to a life behind bars and recounting the events that led up to her incarceration.

Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it's clear that Minnow knows something-but she's not talking. The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust. And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too. **THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED SACRED LIES, NOW STREAMING ON FACEBOOK WATCH**Ī Morris Award finalist and Golden Kite Honor Book!Ī hard-hitting and hopeful story about the dangers of blind faith-and the power of having faith in yourself.

The sacred lies of minnow bly by stephanie oakes