Starbird Murphy And The World Outside

Starbird Murphy And The World Outside

YA fiction
I think most of us have not so positive associations with the
word cult--anything from charasmatic leader mandated mass suicide to
relinquishing material possessions and being brainwashed. Cults and
their danger are probably closer to home for me than most. They can
be very appealing to people with disabilities like my sister, Harriet,
offering the acceptance the "normal" world often withholds, providing
the sense of family, of a cogent world view. But what exactly is a
cult? This is a question posed beautifully in Karen Finneyfrock's
Starbird Murphy and the World Outside.
Starbird, Finneyfrock's protagonist, lives with her mother, at
the communal Free Family Farm, a group run by three principles:
"One: The Free Family is chosen by the cosmos.
Two: The cosmos provides for us and we share what is given equally.
Three: Everyone in the Free Family gets a calling."
Members of the group, the saved, are kept safely out of the
reach of the outside world and its denizens. Children are home
schooled. At the age of 13 they receive their Callings from Earth,
the charasmatic leader who translates the messages of the cosmos to
his followers and pretty much runs the show. As the book begins,
however, he has been gone on missions and people are having a hard
time managing without him.
Starbird imagines she'll live her life out at the farm.
However, when a restaurant owned by the family is in dire need of a
waitress, she ends up in Seattle doing stuff like handling money and
attending public high school for the first time. Some of the
outsiders she comes in contact with don't seem so bad. At the same
time the people from her group she trusts the most, including Earth,
may be involved in illegal or at least unethical activities that have
the potential to bankrupt the organization.
Through this insightful book you'll experience a young woman's
transition from the sheltered world she's spent most of her life in to
more traditional society. It's quite memorable and thought provoking.
On a personal note, Penobscot County recently experienced an amazing
weekend. Saturday was more like July than early fall. Eugene and I
drove around leaf peeping and stopping at funky thrift shops and yard
sales. Then Sunday Bangor at 84 degrees broke the record set back in
1948. Those days were a precious gift.
A great big shout out goes out to my fellow Mainers getting ready to
cope with upcoming colder weather.
Julia Emily Hathaway



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