100 Word Book Review: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth

(Originally posted in two parts April 8, 2012)

When I first read about this book on Slate, I was instantly intrigued because it was set in the same small town in Montana that I had grown up in. The author’s name seemed familiar, but she wasn’t someone I ever went to school with. (It turns out I’ve known her brother-in-law since kindergarten.)

I have to say, Miles City is represented beautifully, and I even learned a few things, like the actual name of the swim lake. I had some location bumps when her description didn’t match my memories, but that’s probably because I left Miles City in 1989.

The beauty of this book is its characters. That Cameron is gay and that she, her family, and the community struggle with that is the “point” of the book, but it’s not the only aspect of Cameron’s character. She is fully formed, and given that she would have been one year behind me in school, feels like someone I would have known. All the characters do, even those rarely seen. None felt like stereotypes of the small town teen. They all felt real to the setting and the story.

Even if you’re not from small town Montana, read this book.