April 29, 2025 by Anne Schwartz Books
E ARC provided by Netgalley
My public library has digitized copies of The Columbus Dispatch available, and when I was putting together a lesson telling students about this, I thought "Oh, I will show them the paper from this day when I was in 8th grade." I decided NOT to show them the newspaper from November 20, 1978 because the Jonestown massacre was the headline news.
I have been recommending The Curse of the Mummy: Uncovering Tutankhamun's Tomb, Crash From Outer Space: Unraveling the Mystery of Flying Saucers, Alien Beings, and Roswell, and The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II to my students a LOT recently for nonfiction projects, and personally enjoy the subject matter of those a bit more. I am not a fan of true crime podcasts the way some people are. I picked this up because I have vivid memories of picking up a magazine in my middle school library that showed full color pictures of the aftermath of this horrific historical event, but couldn't remember much about what happened before this culminating event. I was not allowed to watch the television coverage and probably skipped over some of the news articles about it, since I was 13.
Fleming does an excellent job at followed Jim Jones from his earliest years as a child with inadequate parenting who became drawn to the church to the bitter end after he forced his followers to kill themselves or be killed. She does this is a very balanced, factual way, and has clearly done extensive research, talking to many survivors and going through news reports and documents. Even the depiction of the "revolutionary suicide" is not sensationalized. The information is presented in the order the events happened, which was very useful. I was discussing this with a friend who also had vague memories of the event who couldn't remember when Congressman Ryan and his entourage were attacked. There was a lot going on, so not having flashbacks really helped.
I especially appreciated that the photographs that were included were NOT of the dead bodies, although there was one of crushed paper cups and stethoscopes that I remember from 1978. There are pictures of life in Jonestown, with children at school, community events, etc., which makes this especially poignant. These are real people who thought through following this leader and going to Guyana. Fleming does a great job of pointing out that while it's easy to say "Oh, I would never do something like that", there are often circumstances behind the scenes that make such decisions seem valid.
This was rather long and slow paced for middle school readers, but would make an excellent addition to a high school library where readers will be more interested in the formation of horrible historical figures who gained huge followings. Very well done.
I have been recommending The Curse of the Mummy: Uncovering Tutankhamun's Tomb, Crash From Outer Space: Unraveling the Mystery of Flying Saucers, Alien Beings, and Roswell, and The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II to my students a LOT recently for nonfiction projects, and personally enjoy the subject matter of those a bit more. I am not a fan of true crime podcasts the way some people are. I picked this up because I have vivid memories of picking up a magazine in my middle school library that showed full color pictures of the aftermath of this horrific historical event, but couldn't remember much about what happened before this culminating event. I was not allowed to watch the television coverage and probably skipped over some of the news articles about it, since I was 13.
Fleming does an excellent job at followed Jim Jones from his earliest years as a child with inadequate parenting who became drawn to the church to the bitter end after he forced his followers to kill themselves or be killed. She does this is a very balanced, factual way, and has clearly done extensive research, talking to many survivors and going through news reports and documents. Even the depiction of the "revolutionary suicide" is not sensationalized. The information is presented in the order the events happened, which was very useful. I was discussing this with a friend who also had vague memories of the event who couldn't remember when Congressman Ryan and his entourage were attacked. There was a lot going on, so not having flashbacks really helped.
I especially appreciated that the photographs that were included were NOT of the dead bodies, although there was one of crushed paper cups and stethoscopes that I remember from 1978. There are pictures of life in Jonestown, with children at school, community events, etc., which makes this especially poignant. These are real people who thought through following this leader and going to Guyana. Fleming does a great job of pointing out that while it's easy to say "Oh, I would never do something like that", there are often circumstances behind the scenes that make such decisions seem valid.
This was rather long and slow paced for middle school readers, but would make an excellent addition to a high school library where readers will be more interested in the formation of horrible historical figures who gained huge followings. Very well done.
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