The Right and the Real

Jamie should have known something was off about the church of the Right and the Real from the start, especially when the Teacher claimed he wasn't just an ordinary spiritual leader but Jesus Christ himself. But she was too taken by Josh, the eldest son of one of the church's disciples, and his all-American good looks. Josh was the most popular boy at school, too, and the first boy outside the drama geeks to give Jamie a second look. But getting her dad involved in a cult was not part of the plan when she started dating Josh. Neither was her dad's marriage to the fanatic Mira or getting kicked out or seeing Josh in secret because the church has deemed her persona non grata.

Jamie's life has completely fallen apart. Finding her way back won't be easy, but when her dad gets himself in serious trouble, will Jamie be ready to rescue him, and maybe even forgive him?

"Seventeen-year-old Jamie's principled but spontaneous refusal to join a cultish church her father is marrying into catapults her carefully prescribed life into upheaval, as she is shunned by church and family. Anthony (Restoring Harmony) creates a heroine whose combined sophistication and naivete result in a determination to hide her sudden abandonment (and consequent homelessness) from her friends and caring adults, in order to avoid involving the law, which she fears might reunite her with her drug-addicted mother. Priorities shift dramatically as Jamie confronts her need to turn down the lead in the spring musical for a paying job, while the stress of duplicitous living eventually takes its toll on her relationships. The complex supporting cast includes Jamie's vulnerable father; her boyfriend, Josh, a conflicted church member; the creepy Teacher, who demands his followers call him Jesus; and LeVon, a parolee who takes Jamie under his wing when she moves into a divey motel. Fast pacing and a strong first-person narrative voice combine to make this coming-of-age story a harrowing page-turner. Ages 12 — up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

"Nail-biting tension and a plot that just won't quit." - Tim Wynne-Jones, award-winning author of The Uninvited and the critically acclaimed Blink & Caution

"The Right & the Real has everything a reader could want: a gutsy heroine, romance, betrayal, and a pace that will keep you reading late into the night." Eileen Cook, author of The Education of Hailey Kendrick

Joelle Anthony (www.joelleanthony.com), author of Restoring Harmony, lives in British Columbia, Canada.