The Chosen One

“I spent a lot of time wanting to cry while writing the book.”
– Carol Lynch Williams
(from an interview with fellow Young Adult author Shannon Hale on Hale’s blog,
http://oinks.squeetus.com/2009/07/squeetus-exclusive-carol-lynch-williams.html)

Last year, when over four hundred children were seized from the YFZ Ranch in Texas, I wondered what kind of living conditions could lead to such an event. One fascinating explanation has come just recently in the form of The Chosen One, a new novel by Carol Lynch Williams. It’s classified as a Young Adult novel, but don’t let that keep you from picking it up; the beautifully crafted prose and heartbreaking events of this novel transcend labels and keep readers of any age glued to its pages.

The Chosen One is narrated by Kyra, a 13-year-old member of The Chosen. She lives a simple, happy life with her family—one father, three mothers, and twenty siblings—inside The Chosen’s desert compound. When she’s not doing chores, she loves to climb trees, take long walks outside the compound’s fence, and play the piano in the Fellowship Hall. But things change when their Prophet has a vision and says Kyra must marry her 60-year-old Uncle Hyrum. At first, Kyra believes this is a punishment for her secret sins: she has kissed a boy, and she has read books from a library bookmobile she encounters on her walks. She soon learns, however, that she has been saved for Hyrum since her early childhood, that the Prophet keeps pairing young girls with elderly men, and that the girls who disobey are punished…or worse. Kyra struggles with her limited options: should she obey and marry Hyrum? Or should she run, and risk losing her family—or her life?

If Kyra’s story intrigues you, remember: this novel is not for the faint of heart. I found myself crying often during the last third of the book. The Chosen One is full of horrifying punishments, book burnings, and the dark cruelty of certain characters. But there is also a deeply human beauty in many other characters, and Williams has much to say about love and hope. I couldn’t stop reading, and like me you might stay up with Kyra late into the night, hoping for her survival.

-From Melanie Clark, Reference Assistant