In this Gay Pride month, it’s great to be able to talk both about a well written book that addresses homosexuality, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, as well as introduce a debut author worth following, emily m. danforth.
In 1989, at the age of 12, Cameron Post kissed Irene Klauson, and liked it. The next day her parents were killed in an auto accident. Cam’s born-again Aunt Ruth (her mother’s sister) comes to Montana to take care of Cam.
In 1992, Cam and her friend Coley, an avowed heterosexual, develop a relationship. Coley’s “guilt” forces her to out Cam, who has kept her sexual preferences hidden from Aunt Ruth and her grandmother. Aunt Ruth, of course, is shocked and sends her to God’s Promise Christian School and Center for Healing, which is not designed to ‘cure’ Cam, but to make her closer to God, thus discovering the error of her ways.
emily m. danforth’s prose are so descriptive, whether she’s describing the annual Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, Cam’s lifeguarding at Scanlon Lake or her intense feelings for Coley. With an opening line “The afternoon my parents died, I was out shoplifing with Irene Klauson.” she hooks you from page one. You then go for a sometimes funny, sometimes romantic, sometimes sad, sometimes serious ride through three years of Cam’s life. You live with her indecisions, her crushes, her guilt about the death of her parents, her antagonism towards Aunt Ruth and God’s Promise. It’s quite the roller coaster ride.
But danforth deftly puts forth Cam’s feelings, offset by those of Reverend Rick and Lydia who run Promise. The thing is, The Miseducation of Cameron Post ends with such “promise” for this main character. For a totally rewarding read, The Miseducation of Cameron Post is perfect.