Jesus Land A Memoir
Jesus Land A Memoir by Julia Scheeres, published by Counterpoint Press in 2012, is a revised edition that spans 373 pages. This memoir recounts the experiences of Julia and her adopted brother, David, as they navigate their tumultuous childhood in rural Indiana during the mid-1980s. The narrative explores themes of family dynamics, racial identity, and the challenges they face within a harsh environment marked by a distant mother and a violent father.
Readers will find a candid portrayal of Julia and David’s journey as they are sent to Escuela Caribe, a religious reform school in the Dominican Republic. The memoir delves into the extreme disciplinary measures employed at the school and the siblings’ struggle for survival amidst adversity. With a focus on personal memoirs, education, and social issues, this book presents a vivid account of resilience and the complexities of love in difficult circumstances.
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A New York Times bestseller: A memoir that “will break your heart and mend it again, but it won’t stop haunting you” (Entertainment Weekly).
An ALA Alex Award Winner
Julia and her adopted brother, David, are sixteen years old. Julia is white. David is black. It is the mid-1980s and their family has just moved to rural Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees, trailer parks, and all-encompassing racism.
At home lives a distant mother–more involved with her church’s missionaries than her own children–and a violent father. In this riveting and heartrending memoir, Julia Scheeres takes us from the Midwest to a place beyond imagining. Surrounded by natural beauty, the Escuela Caribe–a religious reform school in the Dominican Republic–is characterized by a disciplinary regime that extracts repentance from its students by any means necessary. As Julia and David strive to make it through these ordeals, their tale is relayed here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and “unadorned, dark humor” (Los Angeles Times).
“Exquisitely wrought . . . Scheeres emerged with sensibilities intact and learned that love can flourish even in the harshest climates.” —People
“A page-turner . . . shot through with poignancy.” —The New York Times Book Review
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