2018 School Spending Survey Report
In this latest from the ALA Stonewall Award–winning Bledsoe (A Thin Bright Line), Delia Barnes courageously returns to Rockside, OR, a small town holding perhaps too many memories of her teenage years. Caught by her local pastor kissing another girl in the church basement, she is sent to “Celebration Camp”—a Christian conversion-therapy camp where people who are not straight are sent to be “delivered” from their so-called perversions. Now grown up and a successful basketball star and coach, Delia is coaching a team of girls at her old alma mater. Perceptively, she realizes that helping the girls work together for a common goal and balancing the personalities and individual preferences of her players is the best outcome for the basketball season in lieu of winning a state championship.
VERDICT Writing in a graceful, fluid style, Bledsoe examines life in Rockside in all its dimensions while revealing how Delia makes peace with a traumatic time of her past. Delia’s reconnecting with Ernest, who bonded with her during camp and is now an accomplished poet, gives the novel a definite upbeat tone and message. Both insightful and page-turning; highly recommended.
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