The Miseducation of Cameron Post discussion

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is heart wrenching, captivating, funny and relatable all wrapped up in the beautiful imagery and eloquent rhetoric of Emily M. Danforth. I simply could not put it down. The story opens on Cameron Post in the early 90’s and follows her life as she loses her parents and finds herself. Cameron lives with her aunt and grandma after the tragedy of her parents death. She is around 10 or 11 when she first kisses a girl. The girl is Irene and the kiss was a bet, but suddenly, to Cameron, it was so much more than that. As the years pass, Cam has other experiences with girls and soon identifies as a gay, but very few people in her life know. She struggles with this part of her identity as and even her best friend has trouble accepting this part of her. Danforth’s writing pulls the author into each scene. As I was reading in the chill of mid-February, I could feel the heat of Montana summers. Cameron is sent to a strict religious camp/school for her next school year when her born-again aunt, Ruth, learns of her “sinful desires.” The most surprising part of this book, to me, was that even though I have very different perspectives than Aunt Ruth and the people of God’s Promise camp, I could still see their perspective. They all were trying to do what was best for Cam out of love. While I did not agree with their views, I gained a respect for their motives. As a whole, reading this book gave me a deeper level of understanding of what it is like to be gay and the struggle some families have between standing for their beliefs and loving their family members.