Eden West

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.

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