In her thought-provoking sophomore novel for young adults, following The Prophet Calls, Melanie Sumrow takes on a familiar theme--a child trying to balance the desire to respect authority with standing up for what's right--in an unusual setting (in the case of The Inside Battle, from within a white supremacist, anti-government militia camp).
Thirteen-year-old Rebel Mercer wants two things: to make it to regionals in the school robotics competition and to win his father's approval. Unfortunately, the two goals seem to be mutually exclusive. His dad is a Marine, "an actual American hero" who survived five deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan before being sent home with PTSD. Unable to settle into a productive life back in Amarillo, Tex., he has instead been listening to talk radio about the "evils of immigrants" and chatting online with a militia group called the Flag Bearers. He believes he's being cheated out of jobs by non-white people. In a moment of rage after Rebel's best (but secret) friend Ajeet beats him in the robotics competition, Rebel wonders if his father has a point. Rebel makes an impulsive, ruinous choice and in almost no time is driving into the mountains with his father, in search of the Flag Bearers compound.
Sumrow takes on an incredibly fraught subject with care and restraint, remaining firmly within Rebel's point of view as a young teen who desperately longs for his macho father's approval even as he wages an internal battle against his racist indoctrination. His transformation from a boy who believes he has no authority over his own life to a young man who ultimately rebels against flagrant immorality is both believable and inspiring. Entering Rebel's world will likely be an eye-opening, disturbing but rewarding experience for young readers. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor