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Sunday, June 7, 2015

Review: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Published: February 7, 2012
Pages: 470
Source: Borrowed
Rating: 4 Stars


When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.
But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is soon forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone (as her grandmother might say), and Cam becomes an expert at both.
Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship — one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to ‘fix’ her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self — even if she’s not exactly sure who that is.

In short: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth wasn't an easy read, but it was a worthwhile one and I feel enriched for having read it.
I will admit that the proportion of books I read that have LGBT protagonists is not super high. Not equivalent to the proportion of LGBT people in the population anyway. But it occurred to me as I was looking through the LGBT books I had read that the vast majority of them were G with the occasional B thrown in; none of them were L or T. Not exactly representative. (This is actually a pattern I've noticed among the book blogging community at large, not just myself. Why this is the case is perhaps a topic for another time though). Anyways, this is an easy fix.

Enter The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Set in the early 90's in Montana, it's not exactly the most open-minded time and place in which to be a young girl questioning her sexuality. To be a fly on the wall in Cameron's life from age 12 to 17 while she deals with discrimination from those around her and self-hatred from herself is not an easy thing to experience, but it is worthwhile. I like that Emily M. Danforth refrains from getting preachy in her novel. The focus is on Cameron and her personal growth, not on pushing a particular agenda.

The strength of The Miseducation of Cameron Post lies in the nuanced characterization. There's a lot to show in a book detailing a character's life from 12 to 17 years of age and I was pleasantly surprised with how Emily M. Danforth handled it as it would have been easy to gloss over character-building scenes. People who prefer plot-driven novels may find certain scenes pointless, but to me every scene truly felt like it was contributing to the character development. These characters were probably the most authentic of any LGBT-oriented novel I've read.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a truly realistic portrayal of growing up gay in the early 90's that I would recommend to upper-YA age readers, especially those who enjoy character-driven novels. Cam's story isn't an easy one to process, but it is an important one and I feel enriched for having read it. If anyone has any recommendations for other great L- or T-specific books (or any other letter in the sex or gender spectrum), then I'd love to hear them! (No hate is meant towards all the great gay male fiction out there! I would just like to diversify my reading a bit more).

Other Reviews:
Courtney Reads A Lot
Good Books and Good Wine

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26 comments :

  1. I think you're totally right about the disbalance in LGBT literature, but even though I'm fully aware of it, I always reach for the G or he B books. Still, I own this one and I mostly just need to gather my courage to read it because I know I'll take it very hard. This is one of those books like Gone Gone Gone by Hannah Moskowitz that I really want my kid to read in a few years.

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    1. Yes, I have a few theories for why that is. I know I reach for G more often because there just seems to be so much more of it out there. But why there is more of it is another story... and I guess it also depends why kind of book you're into. Our community might be more into G romance, less into really serious reads like this one.

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  2. Gosh, I've been meaning to pick this one up for AGES. I have to agree with you, there are so much more G books out there than L or T. In fact, I can't think of any L books off the top of my head at the moment, but you should check out NONE OF THE ABOVE, a book about intersex.

    Anyway, it sounds like Danforth does a really good job with characterization! I feel that with these types of books about self-discovery, characterization must be strong in order for the story to feel authentic, and I definitely wouldn't mind for the plot to be a little slower. So pleased that you enjoyed this contemporary, Aylee! Superb review :)

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    1. Oh yes, I remember your review of None of the Above! That is def a unique topic that I have not seen anywhere else. And it's good to hear you wouldn't mind a bit slower plot - I think you would really like this book, Jen! And thank you :)

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  3. Gorgeous review Aylee! I'd never heard about this book before, so thank you for putting it on my radar. I've been meaning to read more LGBT books myself, but it's especially challenging when you're not often in the mood for contemporaries. I wish fantasy reads had more diversity to them :( That being said, it's my goal to get into more contemporaries as well, so this one will be one to read for me. Despite my unfortunate limited knowledge of the genre, it really does seem like a lot more books are dedicated to G and to a lesser extent B, while more or less ignoring the L and T. It's unfortunate and hopefully it will be rectified soon, in ALL the genres! I especially appreciated that it isn't preachy, just a realistic portrayal of one girl's self-discovery and growth!

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    1. Yes, this is my biggest problem when it comes to reading more LGBT. It's not uncommon that those characters will show up as secondary characters in fantasy novels, but RARELY as the protagonist. But it's good that you would like to get into more contemporary anyway. Here's to more sexual diversity AND racial diversity in ALL the genres! Maybe one day...

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  4. You liked this one more than I did, Aylee. The book's somber tone and slow pace along with some of the decisions the characters made are some of the reasons why I liked this one a little less than you need, but I do agree that this one was overall written well.

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    1. Well, I'm glad you liked it overall. I was SO impressed that this author was a debut author because it did not read like that to me!

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  5. Thank you for your review, Aylee!
    I never got a clear picture of what this book was really about and now I do. And I think you are right, the LGBT YA reads tend to go toward G or B, I don't think I've ever read a T.

    I have read some L characters though, at least as a subplot. like in Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot, the hero's sister is gay and there is this whole to-do with her because their mom doesn't approve. And I remember one of the books of the Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare features a L pairing as a subplot as well.

    Oh and the Great and Terrible Beauty books, there was also an L character there. Those are pretty much all I remember :P
    I think I need to educate myself more on this.

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    1. Mmhmm, yes I tend to come across LGBT character more as subplots/secondary characters. It's really not that often that you get them as the protagonist. It's absolutely something that I need to educate myself more on too! Because my knowledge of what's out there for us to read is pretty limited too.

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  6. Looks like a nice read!! I haven't read a LGBT book before so this book is totally new to me!!
    Haniya
    booknauthors.blogspot.com

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    1. Ooh, then you have a lot to explore and that's exciting! :)

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  7. I haven't read too many LGBT books, but I've seen pretty good reviews from other bloggers for this one too. I really like that this one doesn't get too preachy since I prefer it when authors let me have my own opinions and conclusions.

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    1. Yes, I like that too. At first I was like, "Woah, isn't she going to comment on how homophobic this whole situation was?" but I realized quickly it was completely unnecessary. We can definitely come up with our own conclusions!

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  8. The realistic portrayal of the character and what dealing with sounds well done in this one. Making sure its on my tbr

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  9. This sounds wonderful and that's generally how I've felt after reading other reviews too. Like you, lesbian characters are seriously underrepresented in my reading, perhaps even compared to LGBT characters. I'd like to do better about this too.

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    1. Myesh, it seems like that's the consensus among everyone.

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  10. That's a great span of time to explore a character's life. It looks like the author was able to pull it off. I've only read the G in LGBT books. And it's only been three books. I've been more into looking for LGBT books since I read Made of Stars. I just liked the romance so much and I'm always into a cute romance with of course, complications - mostly identity wise. So I agree there should be more books that represent all of the LGBT letters, but if you look there are a few out there that you might not know about. Annie on My Mind is supposed to be good. I've been wanting to read that for a while. I also think why there are more G books in general out there is that more girls want to read about guys than girls. At least that is what fangirls on tumblr suggest in my mind. There's a book coming out later this year with a bisexual character - Cut Both Ways. I really don't know too many books out there that are LGBT to be honest. I'm be looking!
    Oh, and Huntress by Malinda Lo has to girls falling in love. I'm planning on reading it this summer. I didn't realize the girls falling for each other until I started looking. Let me know if you find any good books (:

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    1. Yes, isn't it though? I was so impressed with how the author handled such a lengthy span because it would be so easy to close over the character-building moments.

      And yes, I'm sure there are other books out there that fit what I have in mind, it's just that it seems like barely anyone is reading them. So they're hard to come across if no one is talking about them. I will definitely be looking up the books you mention here though! Thank you for all the great ideas :) I'm especially thinking about Huntress by Malinda Lo because that one isn't a contemporary like the rest of them, and it's pretty rare that you get a gay pro tag in fantasy fiction.

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  11. Oh, nice review, Aylee! I had wanted to read this for SO long and got it out from the library about a month ago, but it wasn't for me- I was so disappointed! Just the writing style and Cameron and the repression of the time, it wasn't something I could read about, unfortunately, but I'm so glad it was the opposite for you! I was surprised by how big this was, actually- and I had no idea it was set in the 90s until I had it! I'm glad you mentioned that in your review. I'd never seen anyone talk about it before!
    I know you're already planning on reading it, but None of the Above is about an intersex girl, and there's also Parrotfish, which is about a character who is transgendered. It wasn't fantastic, but interesting from a knowledge perspective, and it had some quite fun moments. I'm totally up for recommendations, if you find some really neat reads! xx

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    1. Aww, too bad this one wasn't for you, Romi! I can sort of see what you mean... was the tone too depressing for you? It's definitely a heavy novel - both size and content-wise.

      And yes, after being exposed to None of the Above by you, I really want to read it - I still don't really understand what it means to be intersex so that could be very enlightening for me! I'll let you know of any recs if they come my way :)

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    2. No, not really, it just... maybe seemed to drone? Or take too long to get into things, and I didn't meld with the writing style, might be a better way of describing it.

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  12. You will not believe this Aylee and it's such a coincidence but I just got here from recommending an LGBT book to you on Goodreads! And you are so right: being drawn towards contemporary LGBT reads the most, I find that they ARE predominantly G and B. I've read a few L and T as well, but that's what, it's just a few. I'm so you read this book and kindly shared your review of the same because I am very intrigued by it and I'll make sure to read it soon. I like how this has L and T and is set in historical times when, like you said, sexuality wasn't discussed, forget questioned. This is such a brilliant review!

    Sarika @ The Readdicts

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    1. I don't think I received this book rec on GR? I'll check again. If it's a book that you think I will like, then I'm sure I will! Thanks, Sarika!

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