The Scent of Rain
By Anne Montgomery
YA/Contemporary
- ISBN: 0996390146
Treehouse Publishing/Amphorae Publishing Group
386 Pages
Paperback/E-book
Rose Madsen dreams of becoming a science teacher and will do anything to keep from being married off to one of the men in her Fundamentalist Mormon community, including enduring her mother's brutal beatings. Adan Reyes dreams of better days with his mother when he escapes the foster care system in Phoenix. When their fates become intertwined, Rose and Adan escape into the mountains, only to be hunted like animals. After they are discovered, they must decide if everyone they meet is determined to keep them locked in lives of abuse, or if some adults are worthy of their trust?
ACCLAIMED JOURNALIST PENS LIFE-LIKE YA NOVEL OF TEEN WHO ESCAPES FROM A FUNDAMENTALIST MORMAN COMMUNITY
After heartbreaking and honest research into the life of a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints escapee, novelist Anne Montgomery penned the story of Rose Madsen, a runaway from her FLDS upbringing who uses her wits to survive in the 2017 suspenseful, coming of age release, The Scent of Rain [Treehouse Publishing Group, March 28, 2017].
Set in Colorado City, Arizona, a place known in real-life by the national media coverage of the polygamous sect’s controversies, Montgomery’s The Scent of Rain exposes the issues of cults in hope that others find compassion to help the victims suffering in the wake of captivity. As a foster mom herself, Montgomery brilliantly weaves Roses’ story with that of Adan Reyes, a victim of an abusive foster care system. With their fates intertwined, the teens look to break the cycles of abuse in which they live.
A former ESPN sportscaster, Montgomery works in Arizona as a football referee and high school teacher at a Title I school where many of her students live in poverty, some are abused, and others are relegated to foster care. On why she wrote the book, she says, “I wanted to shine a light on what’s happening in the FLDS community and on our nation’s foster children. We have to do better.” Montgomery interviewed Flora Jessop, the well-known survivor of the FLDS, to learn about the horrors of the cult.
Throughout The Scent of Rain compelling themes are examined including:
• How young people in extremely difficult situations will find a way to survive using their wits and instincts
• The ripple effects of growing up in a cult-like community with little freedom to explore the outside world
• The on-going child abuse and other problems associated with foster care
Anne Butler Montgomery has worked as a television sportscaster, newspaper and magazine writer, teacher, amateur baseball umpire, and high school football referee. Her first TV job came at WRBL-TV in Columbus, Georgia, and led to positions at WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, KTSP-TV in Phoenix, Arizona, and ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored the Emmy and ACE award-winning SportsCenter. She finished her on-camera broadcasting career with a two-year stint as the studio host for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Montgomery was a freelance and/or staff reporter for six publications, writing sports, features, movie reviews, and archeological pieces. Her novels include: The Scent of Rain, Nothing But Echoes, and A Light in the Desert. Montgomery teaches journalism at South Mountain High School in Phoenix, is a foster mom to three sons, and is an Arizona Interscholastic Association football referee and crew chief. When she can, she indulges in her passions: rock collecting, football officiating, scuba diving, and playing her guitar.
The Scent of Rain is available via Amazon and amphoraepublish
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