This book could be about a Finders(1) family whose father works in construction. His coworker showed him a magic trick that he liked, and such a group was formed to create a magic house for the Finders children-- such that when the child sneezed or discovered their innate ability to move objects with their mind, blow things up with their mind, or electrocute people/things with their mind-- the house (and people watching through cameras next door) could imitate the magic skill with fun inventions and doodads built into the home. AND, a secret room or thirty. ;) Written on the walls of the home in fun Comic Sans AND cursive was, "forwards and backwards forwards and backwards forwards and backwards forwards and backwards forwards and backwards forwards and backwards forwards and backwardsforwards and backwardsforwards and backwardsforwards and backwardsforwards and backwards forwards and backwards forwards and backwards..." over and over in a macabre pastiche of markers and crayons-- in the children's bedrooms, in the guest bathroom, and outside under the rusty spigot where father washes his hands after smoking the favorite local brand of cigarettes. He smoked a different brand in Oregon. The children, special as they were, played both aware and unaware of the dangerous gaze of those who would make them more-- something more than man, nature, and machine. The perfect children, who would be perfect in the future but were kept unwashed, malnourished, and in poor sleeping conditions, danced around the minivan that sometimes carried them, sometimes their cousins, and sometimes children who looked just like their cousins but who were not. These children, the latter-mentioned chidren, were allowed to use the legal name of the legitimate cousins and siblings. It was fun. The favorite game of the children near the vans was to write intentional symbols of arcane knowledge and lore into the dust-covered windows-- though the children had never seen nor heard of the symbols. When it was time to come inside and wash up, the children did not do that. Instead, the Gazing Elders gathered the children around them to explain the dangerous symbols-- to them alone-- while mother nervously watched from the front door, begging the Elders silently to release the children such that she could feed them dinner. Mother cried often. This is a story of a typical American family growing up in the Finders Cult, a group the LEGALLY did not exist anymore. Mother is still alive, and that's fine. The children are wondrous and special, and often work in the film or intelligence sectors of the United States of America. They are wonderful and produce more children. Some of them are even engaged in the hobby of puppeteering. It is a great and fun tradition of this culture of the United States of America, which is culturally indeed an American Gothic, though only sometimes outwardly so. Reading this book is a fine alternative to experiencing the madness of growing up inside the cult of The Finders.
(1)footnote 1: The Finders, as legally defined in the sanctioned parlance of the US federal government, was an intentional community began near the national capitol of Washington D.C., with ties to communities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other states.
FBI Vault. "...previously unreleased files from the FBI." The Finders. URL= "https://vault.fbi.gov/the-finders" . Released in 2019 and beyond.