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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
This was a thoughtful book to honor her adopted black brother. although I started the book thinking it’d be more abut racism, it’s definitely more about extremist Christianity, and Christian Reform Schools. It was shocking to read, but interesting none the less.
This is a very powerful memoir, but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who has childhood abuse issues, especially in religious settings. It would be way too triggering. No matter what your childhood was like, it’s the kind of book that requires you to occasionally put the book down and take some deep breaths.
The book takes Julia Scheeres and her brother David through their teen years, first in a small town in Indiana and then in a very rigid Christian reform school in the Dominican Republic. For her very religious parents, everything secular was forbidden. The children managed to sneak some exposure to non-religious music and magazines, but they had to become skilled at concealment. On occasion, they managed to watch “The Brady Bunch”, and it’s poignant how they longed to be part of such a happy family.
Like the Brady Bunch, it was a family of six children. Julia’s parents had four children and then adopted two Black orphans, basically to prove how virtuous they were. The first was David, adopted as a baby and almost the same age as Julia, and they became inseparable. Later came Jerome, adopted as an older child, and already a bully.
Julia’s mother was cold and withholding, practicing austerity both in affection and in physical comfort. Julia’s father had anger problems, and mercilessly whipped his two Black sons for the slightest infraction.
At the time this memoir begins, the three oldest children have grown and left home, Jerome has stolen the family car and run away (although he comes back), and David and Julia are facing a new school. This means a whole new crop of neighborhood bullies and racists, and they find this out before the school year even begins. As the year goes on, Julia pulls away from David, trying to make friends on her own terms. She joins the swim team, fights back against a gang rape attempt, acquires a boyfriend, and figures out how to keep herself supplied with alcohol for courage. Meanwhile, David is dealing with constant ostracism and frequent violent attacks.
After a half-hearted suicide attempt, David is sent to reform school, and Julia’s acts of rebellion become more obvious. When she’s hauled into court as a runaway, she tells the judge she doesn’t want to go home, and her other choice is the same Christian reform school as her brother, Escuela Caribe, in the Dominican Republic.
Julia gladly takes that option, only to find that the two of them are locked into an environment somewhere between a prison and a boot camp. She and David develop a code to communicate, trying to survive the brutality of the staff and the treachery of their fellow inmates, who are highly rewarded for snitching. There’s no dramatic rescue, although they both fantasize about it. But time does its work, and eventually they age out of the system, and are able to leave behind this benighted version of Christianity.
The book takes Julia Scheeres and her brother David through their teen years, first in a small town in Indiana and then in a very rigid Christian reform school in the Dominican Republic. For her very religious parents, everything secular was forbidden. The children managed to sneak some exposure to non-religious music and magazines, but they had to become skilled at concealment. On occasion, they managed to watch “The Brady Bunch”, and it’s poignant how they longed to be part of such a happy family.
Like the Brady Bunch, it was a family of six children. Julia’s parents had four children and then adopted two Black orphans, basically to prove how virtuous they were. The first was David, adopted as a baby and almost the same age as Julia, and they became inseparable. Later came Jerome, adopted as an older child, and already a bully.
Julia’s mother was cold and withholding, practicing austerity both in affection and in physical comfort. Julia’s father had anger problems, and mercilessly whipped his two Black sons for the slightest infraction.
At the time this memoir begins, the three oldest children have grown and left home, Jerome has stolen the family car and run away (although he comes back), and David and Julia are facing a new school. This means a whole new crop of neighborhood bullies and racists, and they find this out before the school year even begins. As the year goes on, Julia pulls away from David, trying to make friends on her own terms. She joins the swim team, fights back against a gang rape attempt, acquires a boyfriend, and figures out how to keep herself supplied with alcohol for courage. Meanwhile, David is dealing with constant ostracism and frequent violent attacks.
After a half-hearted suicide attempt, David is sent to reform school, and Julia’s acts of rebellion become more obvious. When she’s hauled into court as a runaway, she tells the judge she doesn’t want to go home, and her other choice is the same Christian reform school as her brother, Escuela Caribe, in the Dominican Republic.
Julia gladly takes that option, only to find that the two of them are locked into an environment somewhere between a prison and a boot camp. She and David develop a code to communicate, trying to survive the brutality of the staff and the treachery of their fellow inmates, who are highly rewarded for snitching. There’s no dramatic rescue, although they both fantasize about it. But time does its work, and eventually they age out of the system, and are able to leave behind this benighted version of Christianity.
I needed to finish reading this book quickly so that I didn't have to keep reading about Sheeres' horrifying upbringing right before I went to bed every night! As someone already posted, I'm very interested in how her parents reacted to this book. It constantly felt like Sheeres was living in a box she couldn't break out of; it reminded me a lot of The Glass Castle.
When I was reading this it was hard to believe that the stories were truth rather than fiction. The amount of suffering and hardships that Julia and her brother went through was just horrific. It is a very sobering look at the harm that fundamental religion and small mindedness can do to a community.
I really enjoyed the first 2/3, but it lost a little steam in the end.
a beautiful and heartbreaking story about siblings holding each other up through horrifying circumstances. a sad, lovely, hopeful book.
A memoir about growing up in rural Indiana in 1970's with two black adoptive brothers in a family with a deep Christian background. Julia and her brother David were sent to a reform school in the Dominican Republic. I found myself thinking about the book Glass Castle by Jeanette Wells. I was glad I read this but not sure if I enjoyed it because it was heartbreaking at times to read about what this brother and sister endured.
a gripping, painful, and incredibly well-written memoir about religious fundamentalism, family dysfunction, and the devotion the author feels for her younger brother; one of the most powerful books i've read in a long time
Amazing read, but maybe reading it while moving to the area was not the best timing.
Im glad the author wrote this book. Im also glad she shared David with us.