"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 ...
Read More
"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"--
Read Less
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.19, good condition, Sold by Gulf Coast Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Memphis, TN, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.19, fair condition, Sold by Gulf Coast Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Memphis, TN, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.25, good condition, Sold by Once Upon A Time Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tontitown, AR, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
This is a used book in good condition and may show some signs of use or wear. This is a used book in good condition and may show some signs of use or wear.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir (Alex Awards (Awards)) to cart. $1.25, fair condition, Sold by Once Upon A Time Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tontitown, AR, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Counterpoint.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fair in fair dust jacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.49, very good condition, Sold by Open Books Ltd rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Open Books is a nonprofit social venture that provides literacy experiences for thousands of readers each year through inspiring programs and creative capitalization of books.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.75, good condition, Sold by The Maryland Book Bank rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from baltimore, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint LLC.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.99, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint LLC.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by Central Valley Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fresno, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint LLC.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.99, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint LLC.
Add this copy of Jesus Land: a Memoir to cart. $1.99, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2006 by Counterpoint LLC.
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.
