The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

This book dealt with such important and heartbreaking issues, and at times it was so raw and real that it felt more like reading a memoir than a fictional novel. I so much wanted to love it, but sadly it didn’t quite live up to all it’s potential.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is very different from the typical coming-of-age story. It’s about Cameron who grows up as a gay girl in rural Montana in the 1990’s (even though it felt more like the 1950’s) and who kisses a girl for the first time the same day that her parents die in a car accident. Cameron’s first feeling is therefore of relief that they will never find out about the kiss. But soon relief is replaced by guilt and the thought that her parents death was her fault, a kind of punishment for her ’wrongful’ behaviour.

As a result of the accident Cameron moves in with her conservative, super religious Aunt Ruth along with her grandmother. But when Aunt Ruth finds out about Cameron’s “homosexual tendencies”, she sends her away to a conversion therapy camp.

The fact that the events described in the story even exists, and that families actually send their loved ones to conversion therapy camps to “cure” them from being who they are, makes me so angry I want to cry. This book is a heart-breaking reminder that even though so much has been gained the past decades we must keep on fighting for everyone’s right to love, freedom and justice. I therefore really wanted to love the book, but sadly the execuiton didn’t quite meet the potential of the story.

Cameron was a likeable enough main character and I really appreciated that she was allowed to act like a real teenager; selfish at times, irresponsible and contradictory, but she didn’t steal my heart. The main problem was that the book was so wordy and that every single thing Cameron did or thought was described in detail, which slowed the story down and created a distance to the characters.

But all in all, this is an important book that deserves to be read and discussed. I was debating with myself whether to rate it 3 or 4 stars, but eventually settled for 4 stars due to the important and eye-opening issues it shines light on.

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Emily M. Danforth