Leaving Fishers

Haddix's inspiration for Leaving Fishers was a newspaper article she had written about a local church that was accused of being a cult.

[2] Dorry Stevens, a lonely new transfer to Indianapolis, is befriended by a group of attractive and attentive young classmates who invite her to a number of church functions.

Her family life becomes more difficult as bad grades pile up and pressure increases from the Fishers for her to gain "virtue" points and abstain from sin.

Eventually, after a particularly bad incident concerning children she babysits, she leaves the oppressive cult and forms her own group of "Seekers", those hollowed from their experiences in Fishers.

Kirkus Reviews described it as "tightly written, with well-drawn characters, and demonstrating insight into the psychology of belief and affiliation.