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  <title><![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]></title>
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  <description><![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]></description>
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    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[Julia Scheeres's memoir is perhaps one of the most haunting, powerful memoirs I've read. She details the heart-wrenching abuse she endured at the hands of her Christian family and the abusive reform school she attended with her adopted African American brother in the Dominican Republic. Her tale of ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22224747">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
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    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
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    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Sat Nov 24 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Apr 24 20:10:03 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Apr 24 20:10:03 -0700 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[Many people on this forum say it was hard or impossible to believe that all of these things could have happened to one person.   But I have no trouble believing these things could have happened - in my job I hear these kind of stories every day.   One person said that the author should have kept the...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20938654">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
  <id>9471629</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Joe]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Seattle, WA]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
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  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>5</votes>
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  <date_added>Fri Nov 23 21:19:35 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Nov 23 21:19:35 -0800 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I cried when I read the last line of Julia Scheeres tragic and touching memoir. Scheeres sucked me into her life and I couldn't put the book down for a second. My blood boiled at several points through out the book. Is it truly possible that people can be so heartless and cruel? Is it truly possible...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9471629">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9471629]]></url>
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      <review>
  <id>2128945</id>
    <user>
    <id>62062</id>
    <name><![CDATA[LARRY]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Capitol Heights, MD]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
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  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>4</votes>
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  <read_at>Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jun 19 13:29:26 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Jul 07 16:53:48 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[As posted in [http://www.amazon.com]:<br/><br/>Oh. My. Goodness! Julia writes this honest memoir of her Christian childhood. However, the Christian family is nothing but a facade to impress the members of the local Calvinist church. Julia's mom is obsessed with missionaries and constantly plays Ch...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2128945">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2128945]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>17130611</id>
    <user>
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    <name><![CDATA[Debbie]]></name>
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  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
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    <rating>1</rating>
  <votes>5</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[The credulous]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Mar 05 19:16:32 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Mar 05 20:35:06 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Yeah, it was entertaining, the way a Lifetime movie is entertaining.  I read it in about three hours, and I'm a slow reader.  Scheeres's writing is catchy, if a bit high falutin' in parts.  I had to occasionally put this book down, roll my eyes, and laugh.<br/><br/>Such dysfunction!  Every childho...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17130611">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/17130611]]></url>
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  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="memoirs" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[atheists]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Oct 22 07:25:34 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Oct 28 12:32:03 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[The events in this memoir are incredibly tragic, as is the approach to explaining them. Overall, a compelling childhood presented in a childish way. The relationship between David and Julia is heartbreaking. A black adopted brother, the privileged white biological daughter that loves him. It took me...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8066286">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8066286]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/8066286]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>6286655</id>
    <user>
    <id>48362</id>
    <name><![CDATA[misha]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[San Francisco, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/48362-misha]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1175629782p3/48362.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>2</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="2007" />
        <shelf name="bookclub" />
        <shelf name="finished" />
        <shelf name="loved-it" />
        <shelf name="memoirs" />
        <shelf name="onedayreads" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Sep 16 13:15:43 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Sep 17 19:18:39 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Such a tragic, heart breaking story that once again, just makes me want to go find some kid and just hug them. The amount of abuse that these kids went through made for a tough read. It's interesting to read this after The Glass Castle and Running with Scissors, other stories about equally difficult...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6286655">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6286655]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6286655]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>19135615</id>
    <user>
    <id>896794</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Darnell]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Los Angeles, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/896794-darnell]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1207002694p3/896794.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Mar 31 15:13:11 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Mar 31 15:13:11 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This memoir points out a lot of the problems I have with certain religious types.  The author's parents adopt two black children in the name of charity but then proceed to neglect all of their children, trying to substitute their own lack of ability to love with God's love.<br/><br/>Things get to ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19135615">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19135615]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19135615]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>14654851</id>
    <user>
    <id>837540</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Pamela]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Fort Collins, CO]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/837540-pamela]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1226786735p3/837540.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[?? only to people who like memoirs]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Feb 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Feb 05 14:21:47 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Feb 16 22:38:34 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Holy cow, I'm really having a problem rating and reviewing  this book. I would have to compare it to a car wreck---something horrible and tragic but often we feel compelled to watch. I took this book on a plane with me wanting a simple, easy read. It wasn't difficult in the ability sense but horribl...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14654851">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14654851]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14654851]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>9097778</id>
    <user>
    <id>406788</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Rachel]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Bloomington, IN]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/406788-rachel]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1253817537p3/406788.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Nov 14 07:39:43 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon May 12 15:52:06 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[A gift from my dear sister to give me insight into my new home -- Indiana. I haven't met any folk that resemble those depicted in this book yet, but I wonder if I'd recognize them if I did - they seem somewhat caricatured in the book. <br/><br/>This is a memoir of a woman whose family adopted two ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9097778">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9097778]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9097778]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>26059977</id>
    <user>
    <id>1266077</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Steve]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1266077-steve-gallup]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1214353150p3/1266077.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Jul 01 17:12:16 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jul 01 17:13:22 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Other reviewers have used the word “caricature” in discussing this book, and they may be right. I assume it’s an attempt at an accurate portrayal of the author’s extraordinarily evil family (and other “resources”), but wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she’d embellished things a bi...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26059977">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26059977]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/26059977]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>49678270</id>
    <user>
    <id>275346</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jennifer]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Monterey, CA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/275346-jennifer]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1187054687p3/275346.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
            <shelf name="read-2009" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Mar 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Mar 18 11:36:53 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Mar 18 12:01:43 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Fascinating &amp; shocking look at life in a conservative Christian family in the bible belt. I was horrified by the racism, emotional abuse and physical abuse that these kids suffered at the hands of their parents and the Christian reform school they were sent to. I really didn't know that schools like...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49678270">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49678270]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49678270]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>1424356</id>
    <user>
    <id>96913</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jae Ran]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Minneapolis, MN]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/96913-jae-ran]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[Everyone]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu May 24 14:44:01 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 16 20:02:59 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I thought this was a thoughtful and harrowing memoir. As a transracial adoptee who was adopted into a fundamental Christian home and who also had siblings &quot;homegrown&quot; to my a-parents, I found this memoir quite interesting - especially the first half dealing with their teen years in a small...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1424356">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1424356]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1424356]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>36801678</id>
    <user>
    <id>1611556</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Kim]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Oak Creek, WI]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1611556-kim]]></link>
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  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[anyone who whines to much about their life]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[book club member]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Nov 02 21:09:04 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Dec 07 12:22:49 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Only read this book if you want to become depressed.  It is very well written and the characters are so memorable but the story is just too hard to take at times.  One of the people in my book club expained it best by stating that sometimes you had to walk away from it to be able to finish it.  If y...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36801678">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36801678]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/36801678]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>55971223</id>
    <user>
    <id>2313194</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Tim]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Sioux Falls, SD]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2313194-tim]]></link>
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  <id type="integer">461364</id>
  <isbn>1582433380</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433387</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">29</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174957097m/461364.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174957097s/461364.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/461364.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.78</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>93</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[One of the most compelling, page-turning memoirs to come along in years-by turns jarring, shocking, and funny-a keenly moving ode to the dream of perfect family <p> <em>Sinners go to: HELL. Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS LAND</em>. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother, David. It's the mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old and have just moved to rural Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks-and a racism neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close relationship with David, who is black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a distant mother-more involved with her church's missionaries than with her own children-and a violent father only compound their problems. When the day comes that high-school hormones, bullying, and a deep-seated restlessness prove too much to bear, the parents send Julia and David to the Dominican Republic-to a reform school there. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond our imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is governed by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's determination to make it through with heart and soul intact is told here with immediacy, candor, sparkling humor, and not a note of malice. <p></p></p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Wed May 13 14:45:12 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed May 13 14:45:12 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Over the last decade the slogan &quot;What Would Jesus Do?&quot; has become a motto of many Christians. Sadly, it preceded the time period covered in <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&tag=aprogresonthe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&path=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1582433380%2Fqid%3D1134138008%2Fsr%3D8-1%2Fref%3Dpd_bbs_1%3Fn%3D507846%2526s%3Dbooks%2526v%3Dglance"><em>Jesus Land</em></a>, a harrowing memoir by Julie Scheeres.  But, then again, maybe it would have made no difference.[return][return]<em>Jesus Land</em> is a story of ra...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/55971223">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/55971223]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/55971223]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>59309423</id>
    <user>
    <id>2408902</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Chris]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Rio Rancho, NM]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2408902-chris]]></link>
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  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Jun 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jun 11 13:45:17 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jun 11 14:12:19 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Just finishing this one up. I was drawn in because the main characters (do you call them characters when it's a memoir?) are a white girl and her black brother, who was adopted. Being the mom of an adopted daughter who is of a different race than my husband and I, I thought it might offer some inter...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59309423">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59309423]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/59309423]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>54942392</id>
    <user>
    <id>1735156</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Emily]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1735156-emily]]></link>
    <image_url><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1235057141p3/1735156.jpg]]></image_url>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon May 04 15:22:13 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon May 04 15:22:52 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[(Alex Awards, non-fiction)<br/><br/>What an interesting book!  This story focuses on Julia, a white girl, and her adopted brother, David, who is black.  Her parents are “Jesus freaks” and frequently beat their adopted black children.  Julia loves David, but has difficultly showing it.  Her broth...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54942392">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54942392]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54942392]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>75653127</id>
    <user>
    <id>13779</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Khaya]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Israel]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13779-khaya]]></link>
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  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">559</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827s/146064.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[strong stomached fans of &quot;The Glass Castle&quot; and similar dysfunctional/abusive family memoirs]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Chani Garb]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Oct 25 03:03:33 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Oct 26 12:40:26 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Julia Scheeres's train wreck of a memoir is divided into two parts.  The first focuses on her upbringing in a strict, abusive Calvinist family. In an apparently self-deluded display of Christian charity her parents have adopted two black boys, whom they not only abuse but fail to protect from the in...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75653127">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75653127]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75653127]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>56329146</id>
    <user>
    <id>1357264</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Patricia ]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">29</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
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  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174957097s/461364.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/461364.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[One of the most compelling, page-turning memoirs to come along in years-by turns jarring, shocking, and funny-a keenly moving ode to the dream of perfect family <p> <em>Sinners go to: HELL. Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS LAND</em>. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother, David. It's the mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old and have just moved to rural Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks-and a racism neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close relationship with David, who is black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a distant mother-more involved with her church's missionaries than with her own children-and a violent father only compound their problems. When the day comes that high-school hormones, bullying, and a deep-seated restlessness prove too much to bear, the parents send Julia and David to the Dominican Republic-to a reform school there. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond our imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is governed by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's determination to make it through with heart and soul intact is told here with immediacy, candor, sparkling humor, and not a note of malice. <p></p></p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[All who have survived their childhoods, religious abuse, spiritual abuse,teen boot camps]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Mon May 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat May 16 19:28:19 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon May 18 11:50:38 -0700 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir, by Julia Sheers,<br/><br/>Is a story about one sister and her brother. It is a love story that is simple, complex and pure, stained with an overload of not enough love and too much harsh abuse. A story of a black brother and his white sister, growing up in Midwest America, in...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/56329146">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Liz]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[West Chester, PA]]></location>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">146064</id>
  <isbn>1582433542</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781582433547</isbn13>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[Jesus Land: A Memoir]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172177827m/146064.jpg</image_url>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146064.Jesus_Land_A_Memoir</link>
  <average_rating>3.96</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2590</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[  The memoir the <em>New York Times Book Review</em> called &quot;heart-stopping   and enraging&quot; and about which <em>Entertainment Weekly</em> raved &quot;<em>Jesus   Land</em> will break your heart and mend it again&quot; <p> Sinners go to: HELL.   Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN. The end is neer: REPENT. This here is: JESUS   LAND. <p> Julia Scheeres stumbles across these signs along the side of a   cornfield while out biking with her adopted brother David. It's the   mid-1980s, they're sixteen years old, and have just moved to rural   Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees and trailer parks--and a racism   neither of them is prepared for. While Julia is white, her close   relationship with David, who's black, makes them both outcasts. At home, a   distant mother--more involved with her church's missionaries than with her   own children--and a violent father only compound their problems. When the   day comes that high-school hormones, racist brutality, and a deep-seated   restlessness prove too much to bear, their parents' solution is reform   school--in the Dominican Republic. <p> In this riveting memoir, first-time   author Scheeres takes us with her from the Midwest to a place beyond   imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe is nonetheless   characterized by a disciplinary regime that demands its teens repent for   their sins under boot-camp conditions. Julia and David's striving to make   it through is told here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and not   an ounce of malice.</p></p></p>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2005</published>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[everyone]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Tue Dec 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Dec 06 06:02:37 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Wed Dec 09 04:24:09 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count>1</read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This is a sad, but true memoir.  Julia and David grow up as each others savior, friend, and sibling.  White and black, they were always able to come together even when the world cursed down on them because of their color differences.  Growing up in a big family, a very strict religious one, they sta...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/80056667">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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