Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 02/03/2025 In riveting detail, Fleming (The Enigma Girls) recounts the murder of more than 900 Peoples Temple followers in Guyana by American cult leader Jim Jones (1931-1978). A prologue poses complicated questions ("What caused seemingly ‘normal’ people to get caught up in something so fanatical?"), provides historical and contemporary cult definitions, and includes examples of their potentially destructive values and demands. Searing accounts of Peoples Temple survivors and defectors go on to examine Jones’s personal history, which a quote from the subject’s son Stephan asserts one must know to understand the formation of the organization. Frank text notes Jones was "bossy and controlling. And always got his way" during his upbringing in Indiana. Struggling to make ends meet in adulthood, Jones earns money and gains his initial following by traveling with the revival circuit, a nomadic group of preachers who "claimed to have been called by God to spread the Gospel." An author’s note highlights Fleming’s hope that this fascinating and disturbing work will help readers "recognize the destructive groups in their own midst." Includes b&w photographs, biographies of key players, and source list. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) - Copyright 2025

School Library Journal - 03/01/2025 Gr 8 Up—Fleming tackles the harrowing story of the Jonestown massacre, at which over 900 people, one-third of whom were children, died in a mass murder-suicide at the direction of Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones in Guyana in 1978. She covers how by preaching racial equality and faith healing, Jones, a white, charismatic Pentecostal preacher, founded his church in a poor, segregated section of 1950s Indianapolis. His ministry quickly became popular, particularly among African Americans. Fearing nuclear attack, in 1965, he moved his church and followers to northern California, where he started a communal living compound. He soon expanded, amassing a few thousand followers who signed over everything from their property to even guardianship of their children. Some members became disillusioned, and a few managed to leave, but overall numbers grew. By the early 1970s, Jones renounced all religion, was an avowed socialist, and lived a drug-addicted, paranoid life, controlling every aspect of his followers' lives. In 1978, reports of financial misconduct and physical abuse led to a Congressional visit and the murder of visiting officials, the antecedent to Jones's order for "revolutionary suicide." Fleming's writing is riveting as she adeptly chronicles Jones's motivations, appeal, and downward spiral of his mental state while compassionately portraying the heartbreaking account of many victims. Extensive documentation shows her detailed research, including interviews with survivors interested in seeing their story told as a cautionary tale for young people. VERDICT Gripping and wrenching. A must for all libraries.—Karen T. Bilton - Copyright 2025 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 02/01/2025 *Starred Review* Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple have remained a subject of fascination long after the horrifying, infamous events in Guyana in the 1970s, and Fleming brings her trademark deep research and thoughtful approach to this account of Jones’ ascension and violent downfall. Working roughly chronologically, she begins with Jones’ early life in the Midwest, the initial idea behind the Peoples Temple in Indiana, the opportunistic ways he used rhetoric of social justice and spirituality to attract followers, and the increasing paranoia and conspiratorial thinking that led him to uproot (and, in some cases, kidnap) his followers to Jonestown. Fleming focuses largely on Jones’ increasingly unsettling behavior, but she clearly works hard to give voice to many survivors of Jonestown, allowing them to describe their own reasons for following Jones and how they have dealt with the aftermath. Notably, Fleming emphasizes that Jones’ final violent act was not, as it is often assumed, the consenting suicide of almost 1,000 people; rather, she carefully notes the many documented dissents of his victims. It’s inherently a gruesome story, but she does a skillful job of balancing the need to satisfy readers’ curiosity about the details with empathetic attention paid to the survivors and their families. Teens fascinated by cults will find plenty of that here, but they’ll also come away with a more nuanced understanding of a highly sensationalized historical event. - Copyright 2025 Booklist.