The Miseducation of Cameron Post in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Sep 07, 2014 Sarah rated it liked it

Shelves: ya-fiction, coming-of-age, ya-lgbtq

There was a lot that worked in this YA novel, but a few things that didn't (mainly length - more later). Cameron, a star swimmer from a small town in Montana, is attracted to her best friend. The day after their first kiss, Cameron's parents die in a car accident and initially Cameron's response is relief that her parent don't know about her. Following the accident, Cameron is raised by her Grandmother and Aunt Ruth and is eventually sent to a Christian "reorientation" "education" camp.
The firs ...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Debbie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: realistic-fiction, romance

Wow. I loved this book.

First, it's a beautifully told coming-of-age story set in a small town in Montana. The writing is luxurious and brings the setting fully to life. The characters are well-rounded; even the less sympathetic ones aren't all bad. The length might scare some readers away, especially since this is not a Twilight-ish book that a reader can speed through. This is a book to savor, like the unbearably long, hot days of summer that seem to stretch ahead forever, but end all too quic Wow. I loved this book.

First, it's a beautifully told coming-of-age story set in a small town in Montana. The writing is luxurious and brings the setting fully to life. The characters are well-rounded; even the less sympathetic ones aren't all bad. The length might scare some readers away, especially since this is not a Twilight-ish book that a reader can speed through. This is a book to savor, like the unbearably long, hot days of summer that seem to stretch ahead forever, but end all too quickly.

The fact that Cameron Post is a lesbian is important to the story, but it's not the only aspect of her life that's important to the story. She's a realistically drawn character (faults and all), and her gayness is simply one part of who she is. "I just liked girls because I couldn't help not to." Any young adult, as well as many adults, will be able to relate to Cameron's struggle to find her place in the world around her.

Cameron's parents die in a car accident when she is 12, and her evangelical Aunt Ruth moves in to care for her and her ailing grandmother. For awhile, Cameron pretty much continues to live her life as she wishes, except for church on Sundays and the mandatory youth group. "Being a true believer meant helping others, lots of others, to believe just like me. Rather than convincing me of the righteousness of this kind of believing, rather than making me certain of its correctness, it made me question, and doubt, all the more."

When Ruth finds out about Cam's love affair with a girl in town, she sends Cam to a "pray the gay away" school affiliated with her church. Even as she pretends to play along, Cameron remains skeptical that the staff of God's Promise will be able to cure her of something that is not a disease. Cameron comes to see that the staff really have no idea what they are doing, though she believes that they mean well. She describes Lydia, the head counselor, this way: "...witnessing her administration of ten zillion rules and codes of conduct, all of which she applied to her own life, made her seem fragile and weak, in need of the constant protection of all those rules..." I guess this line resonated with me because it often seems to me that ultra-religious people are obsessed with sin. Like the ONLY thing that keeps one from committing mayhem is the prohibition against doing so. One could argue that truly moral people do not require the threat of punishment to do the right thing. They do the right thing even when no one is watching, judging, or threatening punishment.

While Cameron is not always likable, you'll root for her as she struggles to be true to herself and to live her life according to her own conscience. As she says in a sort of communion with her parents, "Maybe I still haven't become me. I don't know how you tell for sure when you finally have."

Frank depictions of sex and drug use. Highly recommended for mature readers.

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Dec 02, 2018 Marcella rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-50-book-challenge, fiction

Really, really good, a gripping main character who I was so attached to that when the book turns in the middle, I had to put the book down for a few weeks to recover and prepare myself. I just wish it hadn’t ended where it did; but a book that leaves you crying “But what happens NEXT?!” is a pretty good book.

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Aug 24, 2013 Vanessa rated it it was amazing

First time novelist Emily Danforth’s book is a coming of age tale set in rural Montana in the 1990s. The titular character, Cameron Post, is twelve when the book begins; in short order, her best friend Irene dares her to kiss her, and she does, in a hay loft. She liked it; they both liked it, really. But not long afterwards, when she is sleeping over at Irene’s house, Irene’s father appears and tells her she has to go home. All the way home, Cam is thinking about how he must have discovered what ...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Gabrielle S rated it liked it

Shelves: 2012

I had hoped to like this more than I did. I mean there was nothing wrong with it and it was quite a good piece of GLBT YA fiction which is something that we need more of. So book it's not you, it's me. ...more

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Nov 18, 2017 Jamie rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club

Quite lengthy and wordy for an anticlimactic and open ending. Otherwise, a different teen angst and finding herself story than usual.

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May 05, 2021 Laurie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021

I really loved this book the characters are so good and there’s some great found family. Everything is presented with nuance. A great coming of age book.

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