Review
Title: Ushers
Author: Brenda Rippeteau
Publisher: Self Published
Genre: YA Fantasy
Year Published: 2019
Number of Pages:341
Binding: Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9781733053808
Price: $14.99
Reviewed by Kevin Folkman for the Association for MOrmon Letters
YA Fantasy is all about idealism, aspiration, and overcoming challenges. I still remember some of those feelings from high school debate, writing poetry in college, or participating in a college mock legislature. The sense that you could see things so clearly, that you could be an agent of change, is what compelled us to strive and move forward, despite all the obstacles that we faced going into adulthood.
Those same feelings are at the core of Brenda Rippeteau’s first novel, Ushers. High school junior Samantha starts the school year reeling from the death of her father in a terrorist attack, coping with her studies, and finding her place in the world. Set in Western Washington, Ushers is about Samantha finding a real-life Usher, a mysterious stranger who sees her potential as a reformer and tries to both mentor her and protect her from the ugly realities of life, some of which are trying to destroy her before she can reach her potential.
Ushers is not strictly a Mormon novel, though Samantha is openly portrayed as an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. LDS characters and settings are prominent, but the crux of the story is how Samantha begins to see her own potential and the power she has within to impact others around her in positive ways. One of her best friends is a Muslim student. Another friend is gay, desperately clinging to hope while hiding his true self at church and at school. With these friends, Samantha begins to develop her sense of justice and inclusion.
The story revolves around Samantha and her friends banding together to prevent a multinational arms merchant from setting up a plant in their town that threatens the environment and introduces elements of corruption and violence. Kamau, a mysterious exchange student from South Africa, is Samantha’s Usher, there to help her deal with challenges, spur her to develop her talents, and become the leader that her community needs her to be. His presence is somewhat akin to one of the Three Nephites of Mormon folklore, which leads me to ask, do the Three Nephites have secret accounts in a Swiss bank, safety deposit boxes with fake passports and birth certificates to allow them, like Kamau, to move undetected in an unsuspecting world?
While Ushers has those elements of Mormon culture, there are aspects that may make some young LDS readers uncomfortable. Samantha, while still devoted to her faith, finds that to reach her potential as a reformer, she needs to grow beyond it. It’s a foundation, but not the ultimate stage, of her development as a strong and capable leader. As the conflict in her town escalates to greater violence directed at Samantha and her friends, she finds herself openly defying the authority and counsel of her church leaders in pursuit of what she views as higher principles. Samantha never loses her faith but grows to see it as a foundation for greater accomplishments that value inclusion and compassion over order and obedience.
This is Rippeteau’s first novel. I did stumble over what seems to be a mistake for a writer to take. As an author, you need to trust your story to tell itself. Then, you need to trust that your readers will engage with the story and walk along with the characters as they navigate their conflicts and relationships. Rippeteau has written a strong and compelling story. I was engaged throughout. What I found intrusive is that Ushers seems to be two different books at the same time. The first is Samantha’s narrative of this pivotal year in her life as a strong, capable young woman, learning to trust herself and her innate abilities. The second seems to be a bit of a how-to manual on developing leadership skills and athletic accomplishments. Those are obvious and valuable lessons for the targeted audience of Ushers, but a greater trust in the power of her narrative, and of the understanding of her readers, might have elevated this story to higher levels. I never felt that the exposition and explanation of elements of the story were didactic or condescending, but on occasion, they did seem to interrupt the flow of the narrative. I wonder how the story might have developed with the single perspective of Samantha only, letting the reader discover the truth about Kamau’s nature along with her.
I find myself wanting to know more about Samantha’s growth as a leader and reformer and to see where Kamau, as an Usher, goes next. Rippeteau is a talented writer and Ushers a compelling story. I hope to hear more from her in the future.