The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Locations
Call Number: Teen Fiction / Danforth, Emily, Teen Book / Fiction / Social Issues / Danforth, Emily M.
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Danforth, Emily	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown Teen, 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Teen Fiction / Danforth, Emily	4-week checkout	Due 05-15-2024
Malletts Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Social Issues / Danforth, Emily M.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Social Issues / Danforth, Emily M.	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Teen Books 4-week checkout	Teen Book / Fiction / Social Issues / Danforth, Emily M.	4-week checkout	On Shelf

In the early 1990s, when gay teenager Cameron Post rebels against her conservative Montana ranch town and her family decides she needs to change her ways, she is sent to a gay conversion therapy center.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Well-crafted characters, wandering plot submitted by yugure on October 26, 2012, 11:42am I wanted to like this book more than I did. From the opening pages, I was hooked, and I enjoyed Danforth's talented use of voice. Cameron sounds like a real child/teen with a real personality and real problems (unlike some books where the main character just sounds like the author pretending to be a child/teen). Danforth establishes her character very quickly and very skillfully (actually, all of the characters are very well done), and she really nails the setting.

The reason I didn't stay hooked is because the pacing is way off. It takes a long time for anything to happen (in fact, going to the gay conversion therapy school doesn't happen until halfway-to-3/4 way through the book), and the story drags and drags between all the important events (and even the important events tend to drag). I was also disappointed that some of the characters I thought were important drop off the page and never make a satisfactory reappearance, and then other characters that have very little relevance to the story are given more page time than seems necessary. The story didn't have the kind of closure I wanted, either.

This book covers a lot of ground. Is it a story of a girl coming to terms with her sexuality? Is it a story of one girl's relationship with another? Is it the story of life at a gay conversion therapy school? Is it the story of a girl grieving for her dead parents? Is it a story of religious intolerance? Is it a story of the political climate regarding gay rights, and its effect on home life, in the early nineties? It's all of these things, which is both good and bad. This novel is certainly worthy of covering all these deep topics, and handles them all with aplomb, but the more I read, the more frustrated I got with the story constantly shifting. I felt some aspects never get the right amount of closure (especially with Coley). Coupled with the length of the book and those long dragging parts, it left my interest waning.

Good Story, Disappointing Ending submitted by Maria Maguire on July 3, 2018, 11:13pm This was a good story, but at times difficult to read. I appreciated that the story felt so authentic. The main character feels very real, as well as the small town she grows up in.

Although I enjoyed the story overall, I was disappointed in some points. One of my favorite characters makes one appearance.... and then never returns, despite there being reason for her to. As the other reviewer stated, the ending was also disappointing. There was a lot going on between Cameron still mourning her dead parents and dealing with conversion therapy school, and it just seemed like it wasn't all wrapped up.

Left me wanting an epilogue submitted by Xris on March 30, 2022, 1:16am I wanted her Grandma to fight for her more, before getting sent away by her aunt. But I wanted to know that she found her fellow lifeguard at college and got to her mom's friend's house. Can't recommend it to my GSA kids because of all the drinking and pot smoking, but maybe they'll find it in high school. I hope there are no conversion camps left anywhere soon. :)