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Death in the Jungle by Candace Fleming

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Death in the Jungle

Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown

Candace Fleming

Random House Children's Books · Print & ebook · April 29, 2025

Reading lane: TRUE CRIME / Murder / Mass Murder

How did Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, convince more than 900 of his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced punch?

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At a Glance

Who It's For

Themes: Young, Children, Award.Reading lane: Murder and Serial Killers.Publisher: Random House Children's Books.

Book Details

Authors
Candace Fleming
Publisher
Random House Children's Books
Published
April 29, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
TRUE CRIME / Murder / Mass Murder · Serial Killers
Reading lane
TRUE CRIME / Murder / Mass Murder

Affinity

Publisher Categories

  • Cultural Heritage Lives

  • 20th Century America (YA)

  • Abuse & Recovery (YA)

About This Book

How did Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, convince more than 900 of his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced punch? From a master of narrative nonfiction comes a chilling chronicle of one of the most notorious cults in American history. A YALSA EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION WINNER • A SCBWI GOLDEN KITE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Publishers Weekly, BookPage, Horn Book, Booklist, The Bulletin of The Center for Childre...

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How did Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, convince more than 900 of his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced punch? From a master of narrative nonfiction comes a chilling chronicle of one of the most notorious cults in American history. A YALSA EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION WINNER • A SCBWI GOLDEN KITE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Publishers Weekly, BookPage, Horn Book, Booklist, The Bulletin of The Center for Children's Books, School Library Journal Using riveting first-person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming reveals the makings of a monster: from Jones’s humble origins as a child of the Depression… to his founding of a group whose idealistic promises of equality and justice attracted thousands of followers… to his relocation of Temple headquarters from California to an unsettled territory in Guyana, South America, which he dubbed "Jonestown”… to his transformation of Peoples Temple into a nefarious experiment in mind-control. And Fleming heart-stoppingly depicts Jones’s final act, persuading his followers to swallow fatal doses of cyanide—to “drink the kool-aid,” as it became known—as a test of their ultimate devotion. Here is a sweeping story that traces, step by step, the ways in which one man slowly indoctrinated, then murdered, 900 innocent, well- meaning people. And how a few members, Jones' own son included, stood up to him... but not before it was too late.

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