The Miseducation of Cameron Post
By Emily M. Danforth
Danforth,
Emily M. The Miseducation of Cameron
Post. New York: HarperCollins/Balzar + Bray, 2013. Print. ISBN-13: 9780062020574,
Paperback, US $7.75
Overview
Cameron Post feels a mix of guilt and relief when her parents die in a car accident. Their deaths mean they will never learn the truth she eventually comes to—that she's gay. Orphaned, Cameron comes to live with her old-fashioned grandmother and ultraconservative Aunt Ruth. There she falls in love with her best friend, a beautiful cowgirl. When she’s eventually outed, her aunt sends her to God’s Promise, a religious conversion camp that is supposed to “cure” her homosexuality. Cameron must come to grips with being considered a sinner and disfunctional by the small town society she lives in.
This is a story about “coming of age” and being true to yourself and what you are. Primarily written for anyone struggling with their own sexual identity. This story is set in the laid back Montana small town atmosphere and is easily related to by anyone who has ever felt the need to hide their sexuality because they feared what others around them or society thought. Or, anyone that is thinking about “coming out of the closet” themselves.
Review
This is a most unique "coming of
age" novel, written from the perspective of a girl who is attracted to
girls. Maybe "gay" or "baby lesbian" would be more
appropriate, but she is just in the discovery phase, and the reader is swept up
in her wild journey. Filled with humor and growing self-knowledge, honest and
frank, touching and memorable. Great writing. Most highly recommended.
-- froxgirl
I rarely come across books that I cannot
review; that leave me speechless, both in mind and body. The Miseducation of
Cameron Post by Emily Danforth is a novel I've been meaning to read for a long
time - a very long time. It is a quiet, moving, and utterly fierce novel. It’s
the type of story that creeps up on you; the prose keeps you flipping the
pages, but it isn’t until much later that the full emotional impact finally
hits. Danforth’s debut is not only inspiring and feminist, but eye-opening as
well. It isn't merely the journey of a girl, it is the journey and struggle of
people everywhere, homosexual or heterosexual. It demands to be read.
-- Keertana