Millet’s new novel A Children’s Bible is a striking fable set in the present about a group of wealthy teens on vacation with their families. The teens hang out together and avoid the adults, and they soon head off on a boat to an island, where they plan to stay for several days, so they can be completely independent of the adults. The parents are mostly interested in drinking and getting high. They encounter a group of richer teens, who talk about their parents’ bunker homes that are prepared to survive apocalyptic conditions, where they can live for months. Then a big storm arrives and they rush back to their parents, but the adults are not doing well in storm preparation. The storm turns out to be really bad, and there is a social breakdown in the aftermath. There is no help on the way, and conditions deteriorate. Eventually the teens decide that they need to take initiative because the parents are useless, and they group together and head out in a convoy. The story continues with more drama from there. Once they leave the influence of their parents they run into trouble and the novel takes a darker turn.

The narrator is Mattie, who is friends with everyone else, but is especially close with her 9 year old brother Jack, an animal enthusiast who hangs out with his deaf friend. The two boys sign together. Mattie is thoughtful and knowing, and particularly dismissive of her parents who are mostly drinking and taking drugs recreationally. The young people also start out with a focus on getting high and hooking up, but when things get serious they have more coping skills.

The theme of the children’s Bible runs through the book — Jack gets a copy of one and comes up with his own interpretations of the stories. The end of the book is particularly strange and calls for interpretation, but has to be about the problems with our society and how the values of those in power have gone astray. While it is tempting to read the story as being about children being good and adults being corrupt, there are elements that go against this — partly because children grow up to be adults, and they engage in plenty of adult behavior in their teens. 

The strength of the book is more in the language and the characters than in its plot, which seems a bit silly when laid out simply. The unabridged audiobook is performed by the amazing Ze Sands, who adds a world-weary tone to the story.

Christian Perring is editor of Metapsychology Online Reviews. He teaches philosophy in the NYC area and is an APPA certified philosophical counselor.

Categories: Fiction, AudioBooks

Keywords: fiction, literature