Leaving Fishers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

This book, best for middle or high school readers tells the story of Dory, a new student from a rural area trying her best to fit in at an urban high school. The book starts off with Dory agaonizing over trying to make friends with other students and not getting anywhere. Then Dory meets Angela, a perfect looking blonde girl who takes her under her wing and introduces her to a church group called the Fishers. At first, Dory likes being included, but then Angela, now both her friend and discipler, someone who 'watches over' and shows new members what it's like to be a fisher. As Dory grows in her new faith, Angela keeps putting more and more requirements and sacrifices on Dory, making Dory begin to question her position and faith in the fishers. Finally, after a horrible incident with children Dory babysits, Dory decides to leave the fishers, at first Angela and her new found friends put tremendous pressure on Dory to come back, then they start a campaign to make Dory feel guilty, finally ignoring Dory completely. Only at the end do we learn from an ex-fisher, that the group is a cult. Overall, the book was okay. I didn't really like how weak Dory is portrayed, but Haddix kept her weak and with self-esteem issues throughout the book. It's good to be consistant.