This coming of age novel discusses many issues that everyday teens face such as yearning for acceptance, overcoming your fist love/heartbreak, and betrayal. Don't worry, the book isn't all sad, it has plenty of humor due to Cameron's witty first person of view.
Cameron has secret relationships with girls. The secrets begin to add up once she learns she can hide the heavy secret of being in the closet; this makes her realize that she is good at lying to keep her safe.
To distract herself from her feelings, she turns to doing rebellious acts. But the truth comes out and her lies hurt the ones closest to her when Cameron is betrayed by her (secret) girlfriend and outed to the entire town. Cameron is sent away to a conversion camp which uses Christian beliefs and manipulation to hopefully make LGBTQ teens into heterosexual evangelists.
Cameron has secret relationships with girls. The secrets begin to add up once she learns she can hide the heavy secret of being in the closet; this makes her realize that she is good at lying to keep her safe.
To distract herself from her feelings, she turns to doing rebellious acts. But the truth comes out and her lies hurt the ones closest to her when Cameron is betrayed by her (secret) girlfriend and outed to the entire town. Cameron is sent away to a conversion camp which uses Christian beliefs and manipulation to hopefully make LGBTQ teens into heterosexual evangelists.
I can relate to Cameron's character on so many levels. Some of the situations that she was in, I was in too at some point in my life. I was so thankful to have read this book but wish I would have read it sooner to know that I was not alone. Thankfully, I had love and support and was not turned away by my family and friends. But I do know what it is like to have one big secret trigger years of anxiety, secrets, and rebellious acts. It was tough to feel comfortable as a Catholic, but now that I am older, knowing what I know now, and at peace with myself, I no longer struggle with self-acceptance. I am glad to know that books and movies like this one such as "Love, Simon" and "Boy Erased" are becoming acknowledged and spreading awareness on the struggles that LGBTQ teenagers face.
Julia Enzmann
This book actually seems really interesting. Although I do think that today's society is becoming a lot more accepting, there are still a lot of people that struggle with self-acceptance. I think it's good that such books exist to show the struggle that some people have to go through with their sexuality.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued because if there was going to be somebody watching over her that ultimately would send her to a conversion camp, why were her parents deaths necessary. Was it a big plot twist when she found out the people she was staying with were evangelists? And why Montana?
ReplyDeleteThis book seems like one of the more powerful books. It’s good to see that there are books like this touching on real life LGBTQ problems. I agree that it gives readers a bit of knowledge on some of the things they go through and spreads awareness.
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