15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing...realistic tale and strong characterization, April 28, 2009
This review is from: The Chosen One (Hardcover)
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I have had a mini-facination with pologymst cults and I thought it was very interesting that there was a young adult novel written about it. I read these stories and am amazed time and time again by how strong these women have to be to leave their families, their religion, their entire lives, to start out with nothing. This story was very similar to the autobiographical stories that I have read, and if possible, it was every bit as heartwrenching. Kyra, is an almost 13 year old, living with her father and her mother (father's third wife) and an large assortment of brothers and sisters. She has recently begun a 'secret' flirtation with a boy on the compound who has told Kyra that he wants to 'chose' her to be his wife, his only wife. The two have heard stories, and seen what happens to those who don't follow 'God's' rules...really the so called Prophet's rules. Kyra's other 'sin'? She secretly meets Patrick, the mobile library driver each week to sneak a book to read. Then one day the prophet comes to vist, something he hasn't ever done before, and announces to the family that he has had a vision from God. God's revelation has told him that Kyra is to be married to Brother Hyram. Brother Hyram happens to be Kyra's sixty year old uncle. Kyra is to be Hyram's seventh wife. Aghast, Kyra vows not to let this happen. Unfortunately the Chosen Ones will stop at nothing to make sure the marriage goes through. In the past, they haven't been above murder to make sure things go their way. What happens to Kyra and those who love her is heartbreaking. Carol Lynch Williams does a standout job of making Kyra's family empathetic...it is clear Kyra's father and all three of his wives care deeply for her. They take some risks for her, but they never quite go far enough. This also rang painfully realistic to me. The story is sad, I am a bleeding heart and I did tear up several times. I read this book in a short couple of hours. I am passing this book on to my 13 year old stepdaughter in hopes that she will take to heart Kyra's strength. A must read for both adults and teens.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5/5 stars - don't miss this one!, June 11, 2009
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The story The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams was inspired by a true story told by a girl who escaped from a Polygamist compound. While this book is a work of fiction I fear the story itself rings true to much of what goes on in this type of cult.
In this story thirteen year old Kyra has one father, three mothers and some twenty brothers and sisters with two more on the way. Books are banned in the remote compound where she lives, as books are said to be the work of Satan. Kyra sneaks off to the Mobile Library on wheels where she learns she can borrow books. She only takes (1) book to start so that she will be able to hide it from everyone. Kyra also has been sneaking off to meet Joshua a boy she has come to adore, and the two are planning for a future together despite the risk of meeting in secret. One day everything changes.
Kyra and her family learn that the "Prophet" will be visiting. Everyone suspects that this means her father will be chosen as an Apostle, but that is not what happens. The Prophet tells them he has had a vision and that Kyra has been chosen to be the "seventh" wife of her 60 year old uncle in just four weeks!
Does Kyra try to run off with the boy she loves, even though she may never see her family again? What happens to her and her family if she gets caught?
This story brings up important moral questions that we seem to be hearing about more and more. It seems to me that this one would make an excellent book for classroom discussion at the high school level as the story contains various important themes: personal freedom, religious cults, and societies norms.
The Chosen One was an excellent audio book that I enjoyed a lot. I did find the ending a bit disappointing but I would still recommend this book for both young adults and adults alike.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A BOX WITH A PRIZE INSIDE, June 5, 2009
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From the back of the box:
Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters. That is, without questioning them much - if you don't count her secret visits to the Ironton County Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.
But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle - who already has six wives - Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.
When I received this box in the mail with the five CDs inside, I thought if nothing else, it would help pass some windshield time, while I was behind the wheel in traffic. However, as the story of Kyra, the little girl growing up in a polygamist family unfolded, I found myself more and more interested in finding out what would happen next.
***
This is a story written for young adults, but I enjoyed it as a not-so-young adult and plan to pass it on to a few younger people that I know. When the story was finished, I found myself wanting to know more, wanting the story to continue, and I just sat there in my car, in my driveway, listening to the dead silence of the completed CD. Then an interview started between the author, Carol Lynch Williams and Dr. Michael Tunnell. I listened to the whole interview there in my driveway, which I found very interesting as well.
There are probably going to be a number of parents and teachers who think that the subject matters presented in this book are too mature for young adults. I happen to disagree with these parents and agree with the author, Carol Lynch Williams, when she said in her interview that we "shouldn't pull any punches with older kids." They happen to be a lot smarter than we think, anyway. Also, there is no better way to get a kid to read than to give them material to read that covers things, ideas, places, and characters that are new, exciting, scary, and contain places that they've never seen or heard of, or like in this case...lifestyles that are so odd, controversial, and precarious. Isn't that what we adults like to read, too?
To make the whole story even better...this audio version is read by Jenna Lamia, who does an excellent job; I mean she gets Kyra's voice and personality spot on!
Highly recommended as a young adult novel.
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