"Punishments took on a more elaborate, almost theatrical quality" - Ruby Franke's daughter details enduring abuse in new memoir 

Over a year after Ruby Franke pled guilty to aggravated child abuse charges, her daughter Shari Franke released a tell-all memoir, The House of My Mother: A Daughter’s Quest for Freedom. The book details the alleged abuse she and her siblings faced by their mother, which included starvation, wrists and ankles being bound, and being smacked around. Four of the six children who are minors, are currently under the care of the Division of Child and Family Services.

Shari Franke, the eldest sibling in the 8 Passengers YouTube channel herd, revealed that her mother, Ruby used disciplinary actions from the West Point military academy, when she was just 11 years old. Shari wrote in her memoir published in January 2025:

“Punishments took on a more elaborate, almost theatrical quality. These often grand gestures or prolonged periods of deprivation, all designed to make us truly ‘feel’ the weight of our transgressions.”

In the memoir that is available for purchase currently, 21year old Shari recalled being hit by her mother when she was just nine years old. Shari Franke wrote:

“Ruby’s hand would often find its way to my face, a sharp sting of displeasure delivered with precision. Her slaps were calibrated—never hard enough to leave visible bruises, at least to me, but always sufficient to instill fear… In her twisted logic, she was molding obedience, sculpting compliance with each stinging blow.”

The Franke family’s life came to a steady halt in September 2023 after Ruby Franke was arrested. This happened after Shari’s then 12-year-old sibling Russell escaped the Franke residence to ask a neighbor for food. The child was found with noticeable wounds on his body that included body and tape marks on his wrists and ankles.

Ruby, who was accused and convicted of four counts of aggravated child abuse, is currently in prison, serving a sentence of 4 to 30 years behind bars.

---

“She was a martyr”- Shari recounts mother Ruby Franke’s parenting in newly released memoir

The Franke family became a social media sensation after their YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, went viral online. The family vlog amassed a massive viewership of over a billion views, with their up-close and personal videos for the viewers.

Ruby and her now-former husband Kevin are parents to six children: daughters Shari, Abby, Julie, and Eve, and sons Chad and Russell.

Speaking about Ruby Franke’s parenting, Shari recalled in her memoir:

“In her mind, she wasn’t a controversial figure being held accountable; she was a martyr, crucified for her unwavering dedication to tough love.”

Shari Franke evidently did not have anything positive to say about her mother, but neither did she praise her father, Kevin. Shari Franke said:

“[He was] another person who… turned their back when I needed them most.”

Notably, Kevin Franke has not been charged with any crimes.

The Mormon family raised eyebrows back in 2020 after Ruby Franke's parenting style left followers concerned. People magazine reported earlier this month that punishments for her children included taking away the “privilege” to eat dinner, making one of their daughters sleep on the bathroom floor after they wet the bed, and also taking away one of her son’s beds after he pulled a prank on a sibling.

Many viewers of the Franke family vlog grew to be uncomfortable with the content that was being put up. In this context, an online petition demanding that the child protective services investigate the family appeared in 2020.

In 2022, Ruby Franke raised eyebrows yet again after joining controversial family therapist Jodi Hildebrandt to form their own podcast, Moms of Truth. The duo left netizens shocked by their extreme parenting and disciplining techniques. After Ruby stopped posting on the 8 Passengers YouTube channel she solely focused on the podcast. She also separated from her husband and moved to Hildebrandt’s Ivins, Utah residence.

People magazine reported that during this time, Ruby Franke left her two teenage daughters, Abby and Julie, alone at the family’s Springville residence for weeks at a time without supervision.

Since then, Hildebrandt has also been convicted of child abuse and is serving up to 30 years in prison.