In 1 Era Out Other

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A lonely new girl is drawn into an evangelical Christian club, then disillusioned by its cultishness; PW praised the author's "evenhanded" treatment. Ages 12-up. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT

Dorry is the new kid on the block—but moving to a new place to complete her last two years of high school is less than ideal. After suffering three weeks of intense loneliness, she is welcomed by a group of friendly, attractive kids. They begin subtly, but soon it becomes clear that they are a religious group, and eventually they expect total obedience. When her discipler Angela commands her to fast on Thanksgiving on her first visit back to Ohio with her family, she comes close to rebelling. The Fishers must come first—above grades, her job, and her family. How much does Dorry believe, and how badly does she want to fit in? This frightening look at the vulnerability of a lonely teenager and the calculated methods of a cult will provoke much thought and discussion. An excellent book club or class novel. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 1997, Simon & Schuster, Pulse, 262p., Ages 12 to 18.
—Rita Fontinha

VOYA - Dr. Beverly Youree

Dorry's life has been completely uprooted. After three weeks in a new school, she still has not made any friends. Then Angela asks her to join her friends at lunch and introduces her to a religious group called Fishers. Gradually, Dorry is introduced to parties, worship services, and retreats sponsored by Fishers. At a retreat, she finds herself caught up in the excitement and she, too, becomes a Fisher. The group begins to claim every minute of Dorry's life as they try to disciple her with training sessions, Bible study, prayer time, and evangelism, believing that only Fishers will get to heaven. Dorry's grades begin to slip, and all the while there is a voice in the back of her head telling her that the Fishers are wrong in their beliefs. Fishers were so into heavy evangelism that it did not matter if a person's grades slipped, for they were to spend their time in prayer, Bible study, and recruiting; having fun was allowed only at Fishers get-togethers. After she is fired from her babysitting job for scaring the children while trying to evangelize, she leaves the group. Harassment follows as Dorry learns that the Fishers are a cult and that there is an investigation into their activities. This is a definite page-turner, full of excitement and pathos. Dorry and readers learn that the world is neither black nor white, good nor bad, but shades of gray and shadows with elements of both included. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses, Broad general YA appeal, Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

Children's Literature - Tim Whitney

When Dorry's family has to move from the small town of Bryden, Ohio to the city of Indianapolis due to her father's job, she is unbearably lonely at Crestwood High. Everyone seems to ignore her until she is welcomed by a funny, bright, and good-looking group of students. She quickly learns that they all belong to a religious group, The Fishers of Men. Not wanting to lose her only friends, she attends some Fisher functions. As Dorry becomes more involved, the Fishers place increasingly extreme demands upon her until a final outrageous act forces her to realize that she has been part of a cult and to examine her own values. Young adults will relate to Dorry's loneliness and will be able to see through the Fishers' manipulation. Haddix never condemns the cult or its beliefs, but promotes the examination of one's own religious beliefs.

School Library Journal

Gr 7-9-Dorry is lonely and insecure at a new high school until she's befriended by a seemingly wonderful group of students. She soon finds out that the group is a religious cult. Her involvement with the group and their ever-increasing demands on her lead to a startling conclusion. By Margaret Haddix. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 7-9For high school junior Dorry Stevens, the move to Indianapolis from the small town where she has always lived is difficult and lonely. When Angela invites Dorry to join her and her friends for lunch, Dorry is flattered and excited. Through her new friends, she learns about The Fishers of Men, a religious group to which they all belong, and meets Pastor Jim, its charismatic leader. The group invites Dorry to parties and eventually to a retreat where she decides to join the church. Angela, her guide and discipler, not only engages Dorry in Bible study and church activities, but also gives her tasks to discipline her and make her a better Fisher. Dorry's parents worry about the ever-increasing control Angela has over their daughter's life. After a disastrous attempt to convert the children she is babysitting for to the Fishers, Dorry makes the agonizing decision to leave the group in spite of their harassment to stop her. With this decision comes the understanding that she has been involved in a cult. The realistic ending is not "happily ever after," but one of self-realization. Haddix has written a thought-provoking, riveting novel with strong, though rather sterotypical, charactersthe victim, the recruiter, the charismatic leader. Her carefully constructed plot reels readers into the book in much the same way Dorry is reeled into the Fishers. Although the ending is slightly didactic, it does not detract from the forceful impact of the book.Janet Hilbun, Sam Houston Middle School, Garland, TX

Kirkus Reviews

From the author of Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphey (1996), a chilling portrait of an insecure teenager gradually relinquishing her autonomy to a religious cult after she moves from a small Ohio town to a large, impersonal Indianapolis suburb.

Fishers of Men is headed by charismatic Pastor Jim, and its members—ordinary students at her high school who don't immediately tell her of the group—surround awkward, friendless Dorry with acceptance and affection when she is most lonely and vulnerable. Haddix paints a wholly convincing picture of the slow, insidious stages by which Dorry is "caught," the dynamics of manipulation, obligation, and intimidation that enmesh her so firmly that Fishers becomes the center of her life. Trying desperately to satisfy Pastor Jim's demands for evangelism, Dorry—recalling the efforts of the religious fanatic in Richard Peck's The Last Safe Place on Earth (1995)—attempts to "convert" the small children she baby-sits and terrifies them with tales of hellfire and damnation. Their furious mother banishes the teenager from the house; only then does Dorry realize that she has become something monstrous and so extricates herself from Fishers. Tightly written, with well-drawn characters, and demonstrating insight into the psychology of belief and affiliation, this cautionary novel is in no way anti-religious: Dorry has found genuine meaning in worship and prayer, and at the end of the book, continues her spiritual journey, but in her own way.