heyheycharly 's review for:

Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres

4.0

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This was an engaging read, although it was a bit tough to read at times the abuse that the author and her brother suffered, both at the hands of their parents and at the hands of their teachers as Escuela Caribe (and for the author, at the hands of her other brother Jerome). The lonely home the children grew up in, completely devoid of love and affection and attention, made my heart ache for them. And for her brother David to be brought into the home and never receive the love or affection he desired so deeply was heartbreaking. Reading the book, I was so angry at her parents. For shunning their responsibilities to their children, for investing so heavily in religion instead of in their own family, for bringing two black boys into their home and never accepting or parenting them (among other glaring transgressions). Reading about Escuela Caribe made my blood boil. Sadly, I know these places exist and they do very well. I actually taught at a rehabilitation center/ school many years ago, although it was nowhere near the abusive environment at Caribe (and thankfully not religious), I remember similar conversations with students about privileges and points systems and levels and whatnot. How Scheeres was able to keep her sanity and "play the game" in that place is admirable. The fact that David died at the young age of 20 and never got to create his own life as an adult is just heartbreaking. Oftentimes memoirs can veer into the fantastical- while reading them I start to wonder "Did that really happen?" and I read conversations with a deep skepticism. Somehow Scheere managed to work around that, and the book itself felt real and raw, nothing imagined or pretend or recreated. Excellent writing on Scheeres part.