"The Chosen One" by Carol Lynch Williams

The premise:
Thirteen year-old Kyra Leigh lives with her father, three mothers and twenty brothers and sisters on an isolated polygamist compound in the Utah desert. In this community, pleasures of the modern world are seen as directly from Satan, women are completely subservient to men, and everyone is under the direct control of Prophet Childs. When Kyra is "chosen" by God to be a wife to her 60 year-old uncle, she must decide whether to stay on the compound and face a life of abuse or try to escape to an unknown life apart from her family outside the compound in the "real world".


My take:
I can't imagine a much more horrifying thought for a thirteen year old than the threat of being married off to your 60 year old uncle - especially at an age when sexual confusion is at an all-time high and self-esteem at an all time low. What Kyra endures is abuse, plain and simple, and she is faced with a decision that any girl her age may one day face - stay or escape. She is a highly realistic and relatable character for young adults and serves as an excellent role model to a reader who may be facing a similar situation.
To a reader unfamiliar with the polygamist underground, this story would easily read like complete fiction and wouldn't have the same impact as it does on those who know the historical context. It's important to the story that the reader know that Kyra's situation is a reality for a lot of young women. I wish there had been an addendum to the text that spoke of this for the sake of the reader.
Overall, I enjoyed being along for the ride as Kyra came to realize she was being mistreated and decides to do something about it. Definitely a worthy contender for the Gateway Award.

Favorite passage:
(Kyra, speaking of her secret trips to the bookmobile) "But oh, how my life changed with his stopping. My life changed when I started reading. I was different with these sinful words."