The House of My Mother

The House of My Mother is Shari Franke's memoir of growing up inside 8 Passengers, the family-vlogging channel that made her mother, Ruby Franke, a YouTube celebrity by documenting the daily lives of her six children for millions of subscribers. Behind the wholesome, picture-perfect image, Shari describes a household governed by an increasingly severe moral code and the constant presence of the camera.

As the channel grew, Ruby fell under the influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt and her "ConneXions" program, and the family's discipline hardened into psychological control and outright abuse. In 2023, Ruby and Hildebrandt were arrested in Utah on charges of aggravated child abuse; Shari marked the day with a single-word caption online: "Finally."

Written by the eldest Franke daughter, the book is both a survivor's account and a pointed critique of family-vlogging and influencer culture — the way children's lives become content, and how a curated online image can conceal what is happening at home. It is a candid, difficult story about coercion, faith, and the long work of getting free.