Katie HenryReseñas

Michael is an atheist. He's thrown for a loop when his parents announces the family is moving, again, and he'll be attending a Catholic school. He meets a group of outliers and together they form, Heretics Anonymous, developing acts of disobedience to challenge some of the schools practices. like the misinformation in the sex ed presentation and challenging the dress code. He falls for Lucy. But when his parents announce that they'll be moving again, Michael kind of flips out and makes some bad decisions that make him really challenged to figure out how to mend relationships and define what he really believes.

This book is somewhat balanced between the light-airiness of a YA novel while tackling one of life's huge questions - that of religion with forgiveness, tolerance, and acceptance. Some of the dialog is a bit too sophisticated for high school age people and yet there are statements that could be attributable to sixth graders all mixed together. These parts of the story grated on my nerves. All this was leading me to a rating of a strong 3. Then with the ending as it was with the conversations between Michael and his father leading to a reconciliation, I kind of lost it.
You see, I went to three different high schools in four years, moving between my freshman and sophomore years and again at the end of my junior year. I had to leave where I spent my sophomore and junior years and move to a new school, in a new town, in a different state. The last move was because my father wanted to be home more for his family (us, me). He changed jobs, took an immense cut in pay, and changed our family dynamics with the hope of making everything better for all of us. I was miserable but he did not appreciate the effect that all this would have on me, the eldest of four children and likely considered the most resilient (and not without justification). My youngest sibling is only four and a half years younger than me so we are all very close in age. So when I started my senior year in this new school, my two brothers were there as a sophomore and freshman and that was sort of nice - especially since we were all new to the school, and we had each other.
My family was very close but the effect of this move on me was never discussed between my father and I. I understood why it happened and what it meant for my family, but I didn't think my father knew of my heartache, crushing physical illnesses, and my loneliness. My mother did. Then four years after I graduated from that high school, my family is taking in a boy from two houses away so that he could finish his senior year at the high school where he had started. I was gob-smacked. This meant that one of the most popular boys in that senior class was living with my sister (the only one remaining at home) who was also a senior and secretary of her class, among other things. I did hear about their arguments over the bathroom mirror and how rumors flew at the high school about these two "living together." My father went to every one of this boy's school events, including basketball practices and away track meets. My father was set up as this boy's legal guardian for the year.

Fast forward several decades: my father died years before; my sister and this boy remain close even though she remains in Ohio and he now lives in California; at my father's eulogy, this boy is listed as the fifth child and he returned for the funeral service - he drove 10 hours to attend (he said there was no way he would miss it since my father never missed anything of his during that senior year). My sister finally told me the story of how all this came to be. She explained that she told my father how the boy's family was moving prior to the beginning of their senior year. My father made contact with the boy's parents and had to convince them that the boy should be allowed to remain for his senior year and what my father would do to make that happen (evidently, it took some convincing, because they were understandably uncomfortable in leaving their son behind - much as my parents would never have been convinced to leave me behind). My sister also told me that my father felt very strongly about making this case for the boy to stay based on all that happened to me when I relocated for my senior year. My father used me as an example of how hard it was during my senior year to be uprooted. The convincing worked and the boy stayed for his senior year.
So decades later I learned that my father knew the misery I went through that senior year (likely following that year). He then did what he could to atone for what happened to me and made sure that it didn't happen to another high school senior. Because of this history, I cried reading the final few chapters of this book because it hit so close to home, and because I could appreciate how much Michael's father loved him - almost as much as my father loved me.

Absolutely adored this, and as a kid who briefly went to Catholic school and was converted to complete agnosticism, was absolutely delighted at how accurate many of these scenes felt. I of course related the most to poor Michael being dragged around by his parents moving, and those sentiments were what hit home most for me.

While the mystery is engaging, Gideon is so annoying and self-centered at times that I put the book down for a while. I am not sure a teen would pick it back up.

So, So Good!

*4.5

I really enjoyed how this discussed religion, I feel like not enough books, especially YA books, do that and it is very important for young readers to question things in their churches and in their lives

This book was different, in a very good way! It is about students at a Catholic high school who may not be the "standard" issue student: gay, Jewish, questioning all religion, Pagan, and a girl who wants to be a priest. It was written very well, I thought, and I would forego other activities to continue reading this book. Katie Henry seems to know teenagers very well and I could really hear their voices all throughout the book. Very nice look at how family's are different and how they operate, are all dysfunctionally okay.

Put an atheist in a strict Catholic school? Expect comedy, chaos, and an Inquisition. The Breakfast Club meets Saved! in debut author Katie Henry’s hilarious novel about a band of misfits who set out to challenge their school, one nun at a time. Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Robyn Schneider.

When Michael walks through the doors of Catholic school, things can’t get much worse. His dad has just made the family move again, and Michael needs a friend. When a girl challenges their teacher in class, Michael thinks he might have found one, and a fellow atheist at that. Only this girl, Lucy, isn’t just Catholic... she wants to be a priest.

Lucy introduces Michael to other St. Clare’s outcasts, and he officially joins Heretics Anonymous, where he can be an atheist, Lucy can be an outspoken feminist, Avi can be Jewish and gay, Max can wear whatever he wants, and Eden can practice paganism.

Michael encourages the Heretics to go from secret society to rebels intent on exposing the school’s hypocrisies one stunt at a time. But when Michael takes one mission too far - putting the other Heretics at risk - he must decide whether to fight for his own freedom or rely on faith, whatever that means, in God, his friends, or himself.

I got recommended this book and it was such an enjoyable read. I found myself relating to the protagonist multiple times about his belief in religion. I was in a catholic elementary school while being an atheist and I found that the characters were bringing up the same points that I used to question while being in a religious environment. For example, the lack of women in power in the religion or sins. Not only this book discusses religion with respect for people that are religious, but it also does it with the humor of a typical teenage boy that just made it more enjoyable. This book is good to read whether or not you are religious. But I do recommend having a piece of basic knowledge of the catholic religion or else you might be slightly confused a few times while reading.

SO.... this book.... this was a different take on how the church/ teen combos go. When you have teens that dont wish to conform or others that conform too much. This book shows what happens when the pot get stirred up and true colors can be shown. Where forgiveness is not divine but is found. I recommend this for teens and well anyone who really wants to try something different.

This review is posted on both my personal account and the account for Crossroads Public Library.

Ellis has General Anxiety Disorder and her life revolves around what if's. What if an earthquake strikes, what if there's a tsunami, what if a volcano erupts and covers the world in ash? Ellis is very concerned about the end of the world. So when she meets a girl who tells her she knows when it's going to happen, Ellis decides to go all in.

Katie Henry's depiction of GAD was spot-on (to me, personally). Anxiety Disorder is a spiteful voice telling you all of the things you're doing wrong. And it's a constant state of worrying, even over seemingly intangible things like the end of the world.

This is the second book I've read from her where religion plays a major part. Ellis is a Mormon, and while her family is fairly liberal for the church, the rules of the church are also the family's foundation. Sometimes religion can be a little tricky to write about, but just like with Heretic's Anonymous, I felt like Henry handled it respectfully.

There were some small problems I had with the character development, but it was mostly fine-tuning stuff that I think we'll see in the final product. Hannah was hard to like - I tried to be sympathetic, because she did have a rough time of it. But mostly I was just frustrated with the character. I also loved Sam and Theo, but they felt very much like secondary characters. Overall, I think a little fleshing out would benefit some of the background characters.

Thanks to Edelweiss and Katherine Tegen Books for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy.

I've had this novel on my phone for at least a year, maybe more? It was released with Audiobooksync one year. I finally listened to it.

Michael harbors anger. His father moves him around a lot and, once again, he's where he doesn't want to be. He blames his father for everything and lets anger rule their relationship. There's little character development of the father. He's presented as any teenager would--a man who appears some and tries to "rule" the house and him in the few moments he is home. There's a solid point, but it shows lack of understanding for each other because of a lack of communication. The father's absenteeism and Michael's anger lead to the only conclusion: fights. Michael really wishes they still had a relationship like they used to. What increases his anger is attending a private Catholic school. Michael is atheist.

Michael worries he will not make friends in a place where people worship something he cannot fathom. He hears a girl present in class and thinks that he's found a fellow disbeliever--so to speak--and follows her. This choice leads Michael to a group of misfits. Lucy presents as a misfit because she wants to be a priest, but women can't be priests. Avi is Jewish and gay while Max wants clothing choice freedom, and last, Eden, practices paganism. Michael somehow seems to become the leader of the group. They take on what appears to be injustices in the school. Michael happily enjoys his new group and is drawn romantically to Lucy. Problems occur when Michael can't control his anger and he makes a decision the group doesn't condone, causing Michael to possibly lose a life he's discovered he really likes. Of course, he can't tell his dad.

Overall, it's an adequate book. I found Michael to be a non-thinker until he finally reads what Lucy gives him and he actually engages his brain. He doesn't change his beliefs, but he does open his mind and recognize ideas that cause him to make different decisions not based on anger.

I don't personally get much mileage out of the concept of "books I could have used when I was a teen." This one is, instead, a book that helped me have compassion for the teen I used to be and was a great comfort for the adult I became.

Less humor than I expected based on the blurb & very much a YA novel (lots of teenaged angst & young love), but still a good read. The book is more about how do groups or societies balance the need for cooperation & trouble-free operation with the needs of individuals who don't conform or challenge authority's rules than it is about religion.

Ellis Kimball doesn’t entirely fit in, not because she’s a Mormon teenager living in San Francisco, but because she can’t stop her mind from fixating on the impending apocalypse. She’s tried to think of every possible way the world will end, and has prepared for each one. Her family fails to understand why she has this obsession with plagues, natural disasters, and a fear for anything that could result in danger. Desperate, her parents send her to a therapist in hopes that it will cure Ellis of her overwhelming anxiety. Instead, therapy introduces Ellis to Hannah Marks, a fellow patient and a girl who so happens to know when the apocalypse will happen. Can they save the world in time? This book does a wonderful job in describing what it’s like to have a severe anxiety disorder, and readers will appreciate Ellis’ journey in finding power and her own voice in overcoming her mental illness.

More substantive than I was expecting, this novel addresses differences of faith, the propensity towards all-or-nothing thinking, the tendency of some atheists and other secular types to be holier-than-thou and dismissive of faith, and the nature and difficulty of forgiveness. Not without YA silliness, but overall it's solid and thought-provoking.

One downside is that the homeschooled kid is fearful, ultra-religious, spiteful, and close-minded, which stands out as something of a lazy caricature among a cast of characters who otherwise are allowed to be individuals (while still being characters in a YA novel, of course).

Also, the cover made me crave toast.

3.5 stars. I definitely LOLed at several parts, but the characters are hollow and cookie cutter. Those of you who went to catholic school should relate better to this than I did.

The hype was real, but this book is honestly worth it.
I wish we saw more of HA friendships and dynamics between not only between Michael and Lucy but with Eden, Max and Avi. I want to know what happens with Michael's sister and Theresa, and with Jenny.

My only pet peeve with this book (and with many of YA books) - there are no adults outside school (besides Michael's dad), they are either not there or have no character at all. I understand that the book isn't about adults but still, sometimes it takes one sentence to flesh out the character.

Great story about a band of misfit kids who form a club after school in a room hidden in the basement. They call themselves Heretics anonymous and decide to call their Catholic school out for having very outdated morals, by staging pranks. The first is a great one where they steal a very old sex-ed video and add subtitles to it that contradict the very old fashioned notions of the school. This is a huge success and so they decide to have a competition between themselves to see who can pull off the biggest prank. Unfortunately, this results in some very questionable events.

This story about Michael, an atheist, who transfers to a Catholic school had me giggling from page one on. So many inside Catholic jokes- his teacher is Sr. Joseph and he think Sr stands for Sir not sister. Maybe you had to be there. But belly laughs galore as I am also familiar with UU and the joke there is spot on as well.

Anyhow, getting past religion the bigger theme here is how Michael has been moved around for his entire childhood and pretty much hates it. He doesn't understand why his Dad works so much and why they are always moving. Facing a new school again has him feeling angsty and out of place. To his credit, he makes a sincere effort and makes a good group of friends calling themselves Heretics Anonymous. They meet secretly in the school basement to debate religion and school policies.

Their activism gets out of hand and eventually, an innocent schoolmate is accused of taking part in their actions. The kids all step up and do the right thing. Michael has a "come to Jesus" moment with his Dad and discovers why their family has made these choices. It all wraps up in a happy ending for all involved. There is alcohol, drug use and sex in this one so older YA readers would be my recommendation.

Please note that I received a free advance E ARC of this book from Edelweiss without a review requirement or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that, I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

Verdict- buy

Heretics Anonymous is about a boy who is an atheist but attends a Catholic high school. He meets a group of students who, like him, don't quite fit the mold, and they decide to challenge the rules. It's all good until the boy, Michael, goes too far in a fit of rage at his father.

Well written. Kept me reading. Definitely for teens, not middle schoolers. Would be most relevant to students who attend, or who have attended Catholic school.

Review: 16 year old Michael is and atheist made to attend a strict Catholic school. And all hell breaks loose.

Quotes, notes and snippets:
Part 1, Chapter 1: ".....in middle school I put together a list of religions from most plausible to least plausible and shared my findings at Christmas dinner, which caused my great grandmother to reroute my Christmas money to the church offering plate."
Part 1, Chapter 2: "....Sister, Father, it's like getting a whole other family I don't want to spend time with."

In comparison to other Doomsday preppers, Ellis is “the picture of normalcy. June Cleaver with freeze-dried casseroles. Betty Crocker in a gas mask” (Henry 189).

Ellis thinks the world is ending, and she really can’t think about anything else.
She is a hilarious and anxiety-inducing character, relatable even if you don’t have anxiety...even if you’ve never considered setting a therapy couch on fire in order to bail on your therapist (36). 🔥

Author Katie Henry realistically and authentically writes about mental illness without romanticizing anxiety, even though idea of an apocalyptic winter-whiteout of San Francisco is decidedly romantic. While packing her emergency kits for the End, Ellis is forced to unpack her feelings of unworthiness for both her family and the afterlife, fears about relationships and faith, and her identity itself.

One of the ways Ellis deals with her anxiety is delving into etymology, the history and meaning of words, and so I know all my fellow word nerds (and English students/teachers) and going to LOVE this book. This line spoke to me (with its mouth full): “Food is a human need. Books are a human need. It’s cruel to make a person choose” (26). Amazing.

Ellis learns that “All words have power: not just the polite ones,” which is a revelation in and of itself; we should all learn how to tell our intrusive thoughts to back the heck off and let us focus on what we want to survive for (276). Revelations like these are like little apocalypses. After all, the word apocalypse “means to uncover what’s been hidden”—maybe the end of the world can be as small as a step in a new direction (243).

“What are you surviving for? What’s going to make it matter that you’re alive” 253

“Golden Gate Park should be the perfect environment for some light doomsday preaching” 260

Seeing small growth—braving a climb, talking to mom, crying in therapy, believing Tal about perfection

“Maybe good and scary aren’t antonyms” 286

She is such a word geek, bookstagram and English teachers are gonna love her “is there anything that makes your heart jump more, than someone wanting to keep your words?” 287

“What-ifs don’t solve a single thing. I’m done with them” when she’s trying to save Danny 364

There are many things we don’t know, but knowning and believing are different “belief might even be better, because belief is a choice” 385

Having grown up with Nancy Drew mysteries, I am continually surprised and pleased with Young Adult books that require some thinking while reading. Questioning the rules is not the norm in expensive private schools, but yet that’s what happens in the Heretics Anonymous Club. I loved how even a good Catholic like Lucy questioned beliefs and used those beliefs to question aspects of her faith. The juxtaposition of Teresa, the good Catholic girl, with Lucy was a great comparison. I was surprised at how understanding the administrator of the school was so understanding. I might even recommend this book to a YA Sunday School class for discussion, from atheism, the Jewish faith, the Catholic faith and Celtic beliefs.

You'll be cheering for the Heretics Anonymous group in this YA novel about the friendships between a group of outsiders (for various reasons) in a Catholic high school. Lots of understandable teen angst from the main character with respect to his father, but it all comes together in the end.

https://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/2019/01/19/heretics-anonymous-katie-henry/
I grew up in a very Catholic town, just outside of Boston.
I was definitely not Catholic.
I was raised Jewish and Unitarian Universalist. They are two faiths that still heavily shape my life, now, and faiths that are in so many ways, on the opposite end of the spectrum from Catholicism.
The only Mass I have ever attended was Easter Sunday, my freshman year of high school. I was brought by a boyfriend and his family and I was prepped for weeks, beforehand by my mother who is a UU minister and Harvard Divinity School grad (she knows all of the right things to do).
But. Catholicism is still a part of my life.
There have been good moments (I absolutely love listening to my friends talk about the love and magic of their faith) and there have been some bad moments (I was in fourth grade when a bunch of my "friends" cornered me at recess, herded me over to a corner by the gym and discussed their "concerns" with me that I didn't go to church and didn't believe in god and, as a result, they were quite worried about my soul).
Flash forward to Heretics Anonymous.
I wasn't sure what I'd get with the book but it ended with me in tears (good ones). There are moments of the story that resemble Saved (if you were not born in very specific time period, like 1983-1988, it's unlikely you've seen it so linked to it) in a sort of distorted, dark perkiness.
But there are more moments that pull out the questioning, evolving, loving aspects of faith. There is a lot to do with Catholicism's deep history of rebellion and change. And even more to do with faiths in general and the universal focus on forgiveness.
The book is funny and smart and delightfully relevant to so many aspects of human existence. I'm glad I stopped dragging my feet (Monster at the End of This Book style) and dove in.
If you haven't read Heretics Anonymous, I highly recommend it.