"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 an all-encompassing racism. At home are 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 ...
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"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 an all-encompassing racism. At home are 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. Julia and David strive to make it through these ordeals and their tale is relayed here with startling immediacy, extreme candor, and wry humor"--
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Seller's Description:
Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 400 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 400 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Very good. Sun damage to edge of pages Next day dispatch by Royal Mail. International delivery available. 1000's of satisfied customers! Please contact us with any enquiries.
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Very good. Bumps and scratches to cover, slight sun damage to edges of pages No.1 BESTSELLERS-great prices, friendly customer service-usually dispatched within 24 hrs.
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Very good. A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting, but may contain a neat previous owner name. The spine remains undamaged. An ex-library book and may have standard library stamps and/or stickers. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.
This was a very good book about two children growing up too fast in a world full of hatred. Not only were they opposite in color but they had to contend with fanatically religious parents. They eventually find themselves in the same reform school of religious background where they are made to feel that they are less than human. They have a dream of living together someday in a perfect sunny setting but alas this is only a dream. The book pulls you in and makes you want to find these unforunate children and give them a big hug.
pamela1717
Mar 11, 2008
Recommend only to certain readers.
Holy cow! I'm really having a problem rating and reviewing this book! I would have to compare it to a car wreck--something horribly tragic but sometimes we feel compelled to look (I don't choose to look but somehow I was drawn into this memoir). I took this book on a plane with me looking for something quick and simple to read. It wasn't difficult in the writing sense but horribly draining in the emotional sense but I still felt a need to finish it. So many horrible things happen in this story***spoiler alert***emotional/physical child abuse;incest, cutllike brainwashing, racism, sexual harrassment , and more that it almost makes you wonder "Did all this stuff really happen?" Still, it is possible all these events did happen making this one of the saddest books I've ever read. David's story especially broke my heart.
The book had an author interview at the end and I wanted to see her parents' reactions to the book but it wasn't really included. As for recommending this book to anyone? I would have to know the reader very well to recommend a memoir of this type.
bookboy
May 17, 2007
Touching and heartbreaking.
I cried when I read the last line of Julia Scheeres tragic and touching memoir. Scheeres sucked me into her life and I couldn't put the book down for a second. My blood boiled at several points through out the book. Is it truly possible that people can be so heartless and cruel? Is it truly possible that while I was living a carefree childhood, Scheeres (who is only two years older than me) was living in a private hell? Jesus Land reads like a well paced, well written novel but I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't fiction, this really happened.
Jesus Land touches on many different universal themes of Scheeres life from religious zealousness to blantant racism to misogyny and sexual abuse. It's also a testament to the human spirit and the power of forged relationships. The ties of family not necessarily has to be linked by blood. Anyone, whether you're black or white, male or female, young or old, gay or straight can glean something from this touching, heartfelt and honest memoir. Coming from a fairly religious family myself, I can truly relate with the damage that can be done to individuals and families all in the name of Jesus.
This is a very important work that everyone should read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
tmul
Apr 3, 2007
Jesus Land
I did expect a story of adoption, relationships within the adoptive family, and some interratial moments of adaption. This story delivers all of these, but perhaps not in the manner the reader may have thought. A brother and a sister almost solely depending on each other, and the validations they have to make to each other that whatever happens, they remain together.
