You know, I could almost give this book a heart because I could NOT put it down. It's compulsively readable.

Julia tells us about her unique childhood being raised by very strict Christian parents in the Midwest. Her parents have four children of their own, and they adopt two African American boys. One of the African American boys, David, is the same age as Julia, and this memoir relates their story of growing up together as siblings.

Unfortunately, this tale is not a pretty one. Julia's parents are largely absent, in the case of the father, physically, and in the case of the mother, emotionally. Julia and David truly only have each other, and even their relationship is under a lot of stress as their parents treat them differently, and David struggles as one of the only African Americans at his school.

This memoir is to some degree in the same vein as Mommy Dearest or Dave Pelzer's books. Not quite as graphic and horrible - - but definitely the situation is not good, and you feel Julia's pain throughout the story. The parents really seem to have NO redeeming qualities whatsoever . . .so I didn't find it quite as strong as The Glass Castle where the writing really goes so far beyond a mere characterization and really develops the family dynamics.

Nonetheless, Jesus Land is pretty gripping. You want so badly for things to take a turn for the better for these two children. Unfortunately, things by and large get grimmer and grimmer . . .but underneath all the pain, Julia and David's love and loyalty to one another takes center stage and makes the book more than a parent bashing session.

For those of you who do not like much in the way of sexual content, it should be noted that there is some here. Not unduly graphic and not gratuitous - - but it's there. ( )

A haunting story about the evils some parents inflict on their children in the name of religion ( )

It never crossed my mind that this was unrealistic, some people just deal with a lot of shit. I liked it. ( )

the writing here is really excellent and this story is an important one to tell. she tells it really well; i'm impressed by her writing.

i am super uncomfortable with parts of this book that equate the white author's lived experience with that of her black adopted brother. she says things like "we are black" and while i don't discount the bullying and ostracizing she surely faced for her close relationship with her black brother, it certainly isn't the same as what he endured. not in society, not in her community, not in her school, not in her church, not in her family. i know she does this to show us how close they were, and i don't doubt that they were, that maybe even she was david's only lifeline (limp as it was) in all of those places. and that because she did choose david over those things (usually, except in high school), that she suffered, too. i'm not saying she didn't. i just don't think she could ever understand how his blackness felt and was used against him, especially as they so studiously avoided any real discussion of race or of their parents and what the hell was happening there. (what was happening is that her "christian" parents adopted 2 black boys so they could look righteous and holy but abused them physically and emotionally and made a terrible life for them.)

i am so disgusted with these so-called christians who use religion as a shield to hide such awfulness in behavior and character. i'm sure other religions have people like this, and atheists and agnostics as well, but it seems so overwhelmingly christian to claim belief in god and goodness and then to brutally abuse people - children, most especially - in the name of that belief. it's so ugly and gross and i hate it so fucking much. i appreciate, in fiction, when it's the christians who are hypocrites, but in nonfiction like this, it just makes me want to be a vigilante and turn violent. but none of that is about this book specifically. so: the parents in this book are bad enough, and then the christian reform school they are sent to was so over-the-top i would think it was unbelievable if this was fiction. (and i looked up the place. there are other books written and a documentary about the abuses that took place there.) in spite of that, i raged at the very end of the book when the author says that she thinks the worst injustices that david was victim to had occurred at this place. her worst injustices may have been there (and maybe not; i'm not here to rank her sufferings) but david's were so clearly in her own family that rejected and used him for the 14 years of his life before being sent to that place. to almost completely ignore this abuse (except for the time her dad broke david's arm) shows she either never really understood him or perhaps wasn't emotionally willing to delve into that or to risk further fracturing whatever relationship she has left with her family. but it's tone-deaf to make the statement she did. and it shows what is missing from this book: a real excavation of what her parents did to him - and yes, even to jerome, in spite of (or maybe because of) who he became - and the misery they made him live with. she may have been david's only light, but she never shone that light on any of the real issues that he was dealing with, and it seems like she still isn't willing to do that where her family is concerned.

when she tells her own story is when this book is strongest, for me. because i can overlook the assumptions she makes that she can tell us about david in a way that i just don't believe she can. but she can tell us what she felt and went through, and what she thought of growing up with david and jerome and the small town and religion and abuse and so forth. her story weaves in with david's, and that's when this book really resonates. david's story is told through hers, and if she had left off the proclamations about him and his life, and left us to make our own conclusions, this would be an even stronger book, and my main issue with it would probably not exist.

even with this huge (to me) problem, this book is still pretty incredible. maybe it shows my own privilege or whiteness or something to be able to still rate a book this highly in spite of this issue. (i'm also surprised and disappointed that she used the words "gypped" and "retarded" when neither were at all necessary.) without these things, i'd probably be rating this book 4.5 stars for the writing alone. ( )

Memories can be tricky, but if even half this book is accurate, people should have gone to prison. A “Christian” couple adopts a couple of Black kids because it's the Godly thing to do. And that is where the true Christianity ends, but not the self-righteous piety. A biological child of the couple (the author, Julia Scheeres) and the younger adopted child become such good friends, in this together, but occasionally betraying each other. There is lots of violence and abuse, including sexual abuse, and no parental love. The older adopted child, Jerome – well, there is not as much about him in this memoir but what is there is so sad, so unnecessary. David has so much potential, so much heart, and is given little in return.

And when you don't want to bother with beating your kids at home, ship them off to an expensive institution where someone will abuse them for you.

Even the dog didn't do well, chained outside in freezing weather. But what more can you expect of someone who treats children like these parents do?

There was mention of a person whose voice rose “several octaves.” Really? Several octaves? And the author used an offensive term for gay people, which was jarring to me, and didn't seem right for the person she was becoming.

This was a hard book to read, and should make everyone with even a semi-normal family grateful for what they have. I read the author's book A Thousand Lives, about Jonestown and that helped me understand why people join cults, and the heartbreaking story of Jones's followers. Jesus Land is another eye-opening look at what humans can do to one another. ( )