Danfort, E. M. (2018). The Miseducation of Cameron Post. London, England: Penguin Books.
Pages: 485
ISBN: 978-0-06-2020567
Price: $9.99
Format: ebook
Lexile Rating: 1120L
Awards: School Library Journal Best Book, Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, Amazon.com Best Books of the Month, ALA Booklist Editors' Choice
"Pining after straight girls--straight girls who are, by the way, in happy relationships with good-looking straight boys--when you live in a town filled with angry, Bible-pounding, probably gun-toting cowboys is a total no-win.” (p. 237)
Cameron is gay. But she lives in a conservative town in Montana where, while everyone is not necessarily super religious, there is pretty much an unspoken understanding that certain sins are just “wrong” and worse than others. At thirteen, while she is first discovering her sexuality with her best friend Irene, she isn’t thinking about that. But then her parents die, and while she is relieved that they never knew she was gay...she has to live with her super-religious, super-conservative aunt, who loves her...but would she still love her if she knew the truth?
After Cameron is discovered to have “Same Sex Attraction Disorder” after one night with a “straight” girl she is in love with, she is sent away to God’s Promise, a conversion camp where her aunt and her church community believe she will be “cured” of her sinful desires. The rest of the story is a humorous yet sobering look at the efforts of those with “good” intentions to cure something that can’t be cured, and the painful effect it can have on those who are unable to meet the impossible expectations placed on them.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post was recently released as a film, which I have not yet seen, and obtaining a copy of this book from the library took several months. I was number 73 on a hold list for 4 copies of the ebook when I first requested it and was only taken off the list at the end of November. I was excited to read this book from the moment I heard about it and was definitely not disappointed when I actually got a chance to read it. While it is not by any means a quick read--its page count is almost 500--it was thoroughly enjoyable despite the difficult subject matter. Cameron is sadly relatable to many gay and questioning teens as she tries to navigate life in a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone else and explores her sexuality with several girls who range from all-out lesbian to “mostly” straight. The novel culminates in the promise of hope and a journey to new beginnings with new friends, with an open ending that left me wondering what happened to Cameron and her friends.
Content-wise, The Miseducation of Cameron Post contains a lot of drug and sex references. There is one scene that, while not especially graphic, does depict Cameron and another girl having sex. Cameron also smokes marijuana often and occasionally drinks alcohol. Suicide and self harm are mentioned several times and one scene describes an act of self-mutilation fairly graphically. The book does not refrain from use of profanity, either. For all of these reasons, The Miseducation of Cameron Post is probably most suitable for teens older than 16, although it is not unsuitable for younger, mature teens.
I think what I enjoyed most about this book was the wide variety of different characters and how even the ones who were objectively kind of terrible people had some semblance of humanity to them, from Cameron’s aunt Ruth, who deals with her own illness by seeking refuge in God and the church, to her grandmother, who is well-meaning but old fashioned, to the leaders of the camp, Rick, a “reformed” former homosexual himself and his aunt Lydia, who Cameron notes seems rather pathetic when she gets past the rules and stuffiness of the woman. The characters all feel real and their stories are heartbreaking. The inclusion of Winkte, or Lakota two-spirit, Adam, excited me because I have never read a story that included or even mentioned the concept of two-spirit before. Overall, The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a highly enjoyable read and I am thrilled to rate it 5 out of 5 stars.
Star rating: 5/5
Below you’ll find a trailer for the movie, which was just released!
