The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M Danforth

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

by Emily M Danforth

Set in rural Montana in the early 1990s, emily m. danforth's The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a powerful and widely acclaimed YA coming-of-age novel in the tradition of the classic Annie on My Mind. 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. At the camp, Cameron comes face to face with the cost of denying her true identity. The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a stunning and provocative literary debut that was a finalist for the YALSA Morris Award and was named to numerous "best" lists.

Reviewed by Angie on

3 of 5 stars

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YES!
+A return to the 1990s! Well, it actually starts in Summer of 1989, before my time, but still. The decade of my childhood. The days of mixed tapes and VHS rentals.
+Cameron knows she likes girls and never doubts it, even attending a church and youth group every week which tells her that it's wrong. Is it really sinful? Cameron doesn't know, she just knows that it's part of who she is. Although she's not out. Not quite.
+The second half of this book is set at a conversion camp in disguise as a real school. Well, they do real school work and all that, but the main purpose is essentially to "pray the gay away." It was sick and fascinating. Cameron never falls prey to it though. She plays along to not get in trouble, but she's not giving in to their manipulation. Things get very dark, very fast though.

NO!
-Looong chapters.
-When is something going to happen?! The first half was sooo slow. Everything just dragged. Then it got really good, and just ended.

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  • Started reading
  • 14 June, 2020: Finished reading
  • 14 June, 2020: Reviewed