Staff Picks
Cults in Teen Fiction
- Brittany C.
- Thursday, November 05, 2020
Collection
Spooky season might be over but colder days are ahead and the perfect book to curl up with might just be on this list! If you’re looking for something you can’t put down, cult books offer a unique blend of true crime, horror, and suspense. From a teen girl planning her daring escape to another hoping to survive the rampant pandemic outside her religious community, these stories of dangerous cults and those who find themselves trapped will keep you turning the pages.
The Special Ones
Published in 2017
"When four young people are taken against their will to become part of a cult, they are worshiped by their followers and become lost in their new reality--but what happens if they rebel against the one holding them captive?"-- Provided by publisher.
Down from the Mountain
Published in 2015
Eva just wants to be a good disciple of Righteous Path. She grew up knowing that she's among the chosen few to be saved from Armageddon. Lately, though, being saved feels awfully treacherous. Ever since they moved to the compound in Colorado, their food supplies have dwindled even while their leader, Ezekiel, has stockpiled weapons. The only money comes from the jewelry Eva makes and sells down in Boulder?a purpose she'll serve until she becomes one of Ezekiel's wives. But a college student named Trevor and the other "heathens" she meets on her trips beyond the compound are far different from what she's been led to believe. Now Eva doesn't know which is more dangerous?the outside world, or Brother Ezekiel's plans . . .
Down from the Mountain
Published in 2015
"Fourteen year-old Eva tries to be a good disciple of Righteous Path, a polygamy cult in Colorado, but her forays into the 'heathen world' cause her to question all she knows"-- Provided by publisher.
After the Fire
Published in 2018
Moonbeam, seventeen, survives a devastating confrontation between government forces and the cult she grew up in, but will need a lot of help to heal mentally, emotionally, and physically.
The Smaller Evil
Published in 2016
"Chronically sick and anxiety plagued Arman Dukoff runs away to attend a self-actualization retreat where he eventually discovers both a bloody corpse and a sense of self that was not what he bargained for"-- Provided by publisher.
Blood and Salt
Published in 2015
"Seventeen-year-old Ash Larkin finds out her family is involved in a centuries-old saga of love and murder, alchemy and immortality when she follows her mother to an isolated settlement in the cornfields of Kansas"-- Provided by publisher.
Agnes at the End of the World
Published in 2020
The Handmaid's Tale meets Wilder Girls in this genre-defying novel about a girl who escapes a terrifying cult only to discover that the world Outside has succumbed to a viral apocalypse. Agnes loves her home of Red Creek — its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet. Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek? As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world? p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Times; min-height: 16.0px}
Agnes at the End of the World
Published in 2020
"Sixteen-year-old Agnes must escape a cult and a Prophet as she attempts to save the world from a pandemic."-- Provided by publisher.
Gated
Published in 2013
Seventeen-year-old Lyla feels ambivalent when the charismatic leader of her isolated suburban community is told that the end of the world is near and when it arrives they must all be ready to defend themselves against the unchosen.
Gated
Published in 2013
Seventeen-year-old Lyla feels ambivalent when the charismatic leader of her isolated suburban community is told that the end of the world is near and when it arrives they must all be ready to defend themselves against the unchosen.
Gated
Published in 2013
Seventeen-year-old Lyla feels ambivalent when the charismatic leader of her isolated suburban community is told that the end of the world is near and when it arrives they must all be ready to defend themselves against the unchosen.
The Virtue of Sin
Published in 2019
Miriam, sixteen, is chosen for marriage by someone other than the boy she loves and begins to question her entire life in New Jerusalem, a desert compound safe from the world's evils.
This Side of Salvation
Published in 2014
After his older brother is killed, David turns to anger and his parents to religion, but just as David's life is beginning to make sense again his parents press him and his sister to join them in cutting worldly ties to prepare for the Rush, when the faithful will be whisked off to heaven.
The Cresswell Plot
Published in 2016
Six siblings living in fear of their strict, religious father in the isolated woods of upstate New York, start to test the boundaries of the laws that bind them and are offered glimpses of a life filled with freedom and choice, but first they will have to escape their father who has announced their family will soon return to their home in heaven.