The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

The fact that the events described in The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth 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.

That said, I so wished I would have loved this book. This book is so important and it was well-written, but it wasn’t a read that pulled you in. It wasn’t bad, but it had so much potential that it didn’t quite meet, sadly.

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.

There is also another objection that I felt after finishing this book, and that is that the book, nor Cameron, doesn’t condemn the correction therapy clear enough. This kind of camps, and the idea that someone can be “cured from homosexuality” or that “homosexuality is a sin” are completely unacceptable, and I wished that it had been made absolutely clear and condemned in a much harder way.

​But all in all, it is an important book that deserves to be read and discussed.

Find out more about the book and the author here: Emily M. Danforth