However, when a man claiming to be her father takes her away, she is thrown into the outside world, and it’s nothing like she’d ever imagined — full of color and food, and so much more complicated than the compound, which is a place of clear rules and routines.
Zylynn is still determined to have her ceremony and return to the Light, but as she learns new things about the outside world and even her old compound home, she’s forced to confront some terrible truths about her upbringing…
My Life with the Liars is a middle grade Realistic Fiction novel dealing with cults. It was written by Caela Carter, and it was published on March 16, 2016.
My Life with the Liars contains examples of:
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Zylynn’s thirteenth birthday is also the day she runs away back to the compound, walking for hours through the hot desert, only to be denied a ceremony and to finally learn the truth about Father Prophet.
- Break the Cutie: Zylynn sees this while looking through old photographs of herself; when she was little, she was healthier and happier, and she notes that seeing herself grow older is like seeing a girl grow in reverse.
- Character Catchphrase: “Oh my God” and its variants for Janice, known to Zylynn as Jaycia.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: Having been raised in a cult, Zylynn initially doesn’t understand that she was being starved and abused; she sees limited food and corporal punishment as normal. At one point, she fondly reminisces about receiving a box full of food as a birthday present, which upsets her little half-sister Elsie. Realizing how screwed-up her upbringing was is a big part of Zylynn’s Character Development.
- Corporal Punishment: Among other punishments, the Children Inside the Light do “pingings”, where the person being punished stands along the fence and the others throw pebbles and small rocks at them.
- Cult: The Children Inside the Light is a cult run by Jim Levens, known to his followers as Father Prophet. The price of entry is all one’s worldly possessions, and Jim takes total control of every aspect of every follower’s life, even starving and drugging them. According to Louis, when the cult started, things were less harsh; things like drugged tea, Hungry Days, families being separated, and even the Light.
- Cult Defector: Several, including Louis, Janice and her mother, and Eli Thomas. Eli Thomas, also known as Brother Tomlinkin, was a doctor before he joined the Children, and he served as their doctor while he was there. Seeing the state of the people there, especially the malnourished children, made him spread the word about Jim Levens’s abuses once he got out.
- Denied Food as Punishment: In the compound, food is given in very limited amounts on most days, to the point where Zylynn thinks two strips of bacon and a big strawberry is a huge breakfast. There are also the Hungry Days, days where no food is given at all as told to Father Prophet by Mother God.
- False Prophet: Jim Levens, also known as Father Prophet, is using the cult to gain riches and obedient followers. His Children live simple lives and are barely given anything to eat, while Jim lives in a big house and even has a feast on a Hungry Day. When she goes into his house, Zylynn notes that he has a television and even a gun, something that is supposed to be very sinful.
- Fictional Age of Majority: The female Children Inside the Light come of age at thirteen.
- It's All My Fault: Zylynn blames herself for being taken away from the Light. As it turns out, weeks before it happened, she and “Jaycia” snuck into the kitchen one night and ate a bar of cheese, something Zylynn thinks to be an Abomination. Actually, this had nothing to do with Zylynn being taken away; Louis sued for custody.
- Manipulative Bastard: Jim Levens is quite good at manipulating his followers, especially the children who have grown up in the cult. He tells them that Curiosity is evil and will lead them to damnation, and convinces them that the outside is full of Liars that they shouldn’t say a word to.
- Not Used to Freedom: Zylynn is not used to making choices for herself, since in the compound, everything was decided for her. She wore all white, like everyone else, and did the same things almost every day. Choosing clothes with actual colors at Target is difficult for her.
- Only Sane Man: Janice, renamed Jaycia by Father Prophet, comes off as this when talking to the other children in the compound, though she can be somewhat bratty, as expected for a young girl. Her mother later remarks that it was Janice that brought her back to her senses and allowed her to see the truth behind the Prophet’s lies and leave.
- Parents as People: Louis, Charita, and even Thesmerelda are portrayed as well-meaning but flawed individuals. Louis in particular blames himself for Zylynn’s abuse, as he left her and Thesmerelda in the Light, and he fears that Zylynn hates him.
- Poor Communication Kills: Louis and Charita tell Zylynn next to nothing about what’s really going on and how the world outside the compound works, leading her to mess up things she didn’t know about and eventually attempt to go back to the compound.
- Rite of Passage: The Children Inside the Light hold a special ceremony for girls on their thirteenth birthday. It involves the girl singing a hymn as she walks to the front of the chapel while all the lights are turned off, then asking Mother God to judge her worthy, upon which all the lights are turned on. It is later revealed that Father Prophet had the light switch hidden between the cushions of his seat the whole time.
- Slipping a Mickey: Before they go to bed, the Children drink lots of pomegranate tea, which actually is drugged to make them sleep.
