Jesus Land: A Memoir

By Julia Scheeres

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
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781619021341

Julia Scheeres

Julia Scheeres is the author of New York Times bestselling memoir Jesus Land. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband and two daughters and is a member of the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto.

Reviews for Jesus Land

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5*** This is a memoir of growing up with parents who adhered to a religious fundamentalism but who were abusive to their children. Scheeres was the youngest child in the family, and the last biological child born to her parents, who subsequently adopted two African American boys. David, was practically Julia’s twin, with only a month or so difference in their birthdates. They grew up as brother and sister, and shared dreams of one day growing up and moving to Florida together. When David and Julia were teens, they rebelled against their strict upbringing with the result that their parents sent them to a school in the Dominican Republic – a sort of “boot camp” to get them right with Jesus. The first half of the book details their childhood and early school experiences. The racial prejudice aimed at David, and from which Julia tried to protect her brother, with the result that she was also ostracized in their small midwestern town. The second half of the book focuses on the time they spent at Escuela Caribe, and what they had to endure there to “prove” to the people running the school and to their parents that they “deserved” to return to their home in Indiana. Their mother was clearly neglectful, ignoring the children’s complaints of mistreatment at school, and barely providing them with food, shelter and clothing. But their father. He may have been a surgeon, but he was physically abusive, particularly to the adopted boys. Why was he never prosecuted!?!?!Yet the love she and David shared, the unbreakable bond of brother and sister, shine through. Towards the end of their time at Escuela Caribe, she writes:We are young, and we have our entire lives ahead of us. Together, we have survived racism and religion. Together, we are strong. Together, we can do anything. Life may not be fair, but when you have someone to believe in, life can be managed, and sometimes, even miraculous. After everything else falls away, we shall remain brother and sister. Family.

[eye_gee-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

All I can say is this woman is a survivor!

[tealightful · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is written very beautifully. A harrowing tale of life in 1970s rural Indiana, brimming with blatant racism and abusive Calvinist parents. Julia Scheeres is a very gifted writer, a recommended read for anyone who likes a well-written memoir.

[gretchenlg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unputdownable. Devastating, True.

[chersbookitlist · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! What a story! How this woman survived to tell about what happened to her is amazing. I have read no better book exposing the hypocrisy of rigid Christian fundamentalism, and its divergence from the true teachings of Jesus. This one is all the better because of the visceral and painful personal tragedy that unfolds for this woman in her family of origin.

[lexicographer_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Julia Scheers has written a heartbreaking memoir about her childhood in a ultra-religious, racially-mixed family in 1980s Indiana. Mostly, though, what she has written is a testament to her adopted brother David, an explanation of her experience of their shared yet deeply disparate childhoods and a heart-felt account of her love for him. The book is shocking and horrific, but also deeply human, in its reminder of how much love can matter even in the most torturous of circumstances.

[artistlibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I picked up this ALA Alex Award Winner because I am fond of memoirs; I like to know how other people live. In her story, Julia's white Christian parents adopt two black boys, Jerome and David, seeing their attempt at a multiracial family in mid 80s Indiana as a test from God. Their dad is an absent father, a doctor, who sees fit to physically punish the boys. Their mom is more interested in the lives of Christian missionaries and doing the church's good than learning how her children's day at school went. Eventually, due to "bad behavior," (Julia will tell you the details), David and then Julia get shipped off to a Christian reform school in the Dominican Republic. It proves to be a dumping ground for teenagers whose parents were more devoted to God than loving and raising their children. Julia and David begin by surviving racist Indiana together. They then rely on one another again at Escuela Caribe, determined to get by and get out. It's a simply written tale of sibling love and necessity. A true testament to our own fallacies as human beings as well as our strengths and triumphs.

[swl_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Critiquing a memoir is difficult, because it's hard not to consider the life lived as well as how it's presented when evaluating it. In that light the second half of the book is more engaging than the first. I'm only a few years older than JS, so the midwestern hick world she describes is somewhat familiar and depressing. But I certainly never went to Christian reform school and found that part of the story gripping.The big story, of course, is composed of racism, religious fanaticism, and family dynamics - topics which will never go out of style. If this was a novel, maybe there would be a way to have a really satisfying retribution scene against any or all of these evils. In memoirs, it seems that the narrator's usual revenge is limited to merely living well. And this is as it should be - I don't know if dramatic smiting of enemies is a therapeutically useful reaction - but it does make for a possibly-less-satisfying read.My son's English teacher considers readers like me to be "plot junkies", and that may be true. If what you ask from your book is a thoughtful revealing of humanity and its lessons, then this may be a 5-star book. Lowbrow that I am, I found it just a bit unsatisfying.

[coolmama_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Heartbreaking, shocking, could not stop reading it.WOW is all I can say.Julia's memoir to her adopted African American brother in her furvently religious household was really draining (but yet compelling) to read.Incredible that she chose to go on, really.

[alanna1122 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A disturbing memoir about a teenager growing up with two adopted black brothers in rural Indiana. one brother and the author are sent to a Christian Reform school in the Domincan Republic where they survive an incredibly abusive program. This novel was really well written and engaging. I think it is the first time I have read a memoir and kept thinking to myself - I really really wish this was fiction - much of it is too horrible to contemplate someone living through. The author has great tenacity though and is able to write about her life with great clarity and insight into those who treated her so poorly in her younger years. I hope that she has a great life now filled with people who love her... no child should grow up the way she did.

[itbgc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to read this book because several of my nephews (doctor's kids) lived in Escuela Caribe--the "Christian" reform school in the Dominican Republic. The author was there in the mid-1980s, and my nephews were there very recently at separate times. From what I gather, unfortunately, things haven't changed much at the school. Now I'm ready to have a conversation with my nephews about this place--if they'll let me. This is quite a shocking book. Why hasn't Escuela Caribe been shut down? I assume it's because it is in the DR. I do recommend reading this book, but it is quite explicit.

[stormydawnc · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Jesus Land is one of those books where I think the situations portrayed within the book need to be brought to light and known, but I don't find the book itself well-written. Meandering and confusing at times.

[soam_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A real page-turner. A gripping story about race and abuse. Well-written.

[julierh · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

a gripping, painful, and incredibly well-written memoir about religious fundamentalism, family dysfunction, and the devotion the author feels for her younger brother

[mcelhra · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I chose this book because my own family is transracial – my husband, my two boys and I are white and my daughter is African American. Because of that, I’m interested in hearing the stories of other transracial families. Good god – I’m glad my family couldn’t be more different from Julia’s family. Julia’s parents adopted her two black brothers because it was the Christian thing to do. It’s another story – this time true – of white people thinking that they can save the black children by immersing them in white society and not acknowledging their race. Julia’s parents are this and worse. They are “spare the rod and spoil the child” Dutch Calvinists. Julia’s mother is cold and distant. Her father, a surgeon, seems to be mostly absent. He is mainly mentioned in relation to beating one of her two black brothers as punishment.The family lives in a small town in Indiana. It’s mostly white and the use of the n-word is common. David and Julia are best friends but even she distances herself from him when dealing with the issues surrounding his race become too much for her. To ease her guilt she turns to drinking and sex. David and Julia’s parents end up sending them both to a reform school in the Dominican Republic called Esculea Caribe, where life is even harder and more brutal than it was at home. I researched Escuela Caribe a bit after reading this and it appears that as unbelievable as the treatment Julia and David endured sounds, it was true. The school could get away with a lot more being in a loosely regulated foreign country than they ever could have in the United States.Julia writes her story in a detached manner almost devoid of emotion. It works though because I think when she was experiencing these events as a teenager, she detached herself and became numb to the abuse just to get through it. Reading this book was like listening to the teenage Julia telling you her story directly. Much like The Glass Castle, this book was difficult memoir to read but I’m glad I did.

[bookwormteri · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Julia and her two adopted brothers don't have it easy. Her parents are ultra religious and take it out more on the boys than Julia. They don't know that every time they beat her older brother, he repays Julia for their abuse. While she adores her younger brother, they have their differences too. She is white and both brothers are black. Eventually, the parents send Julia and her younger brother, David, away to an incredibly strict camp to have the righteousness brought back into their lives. Incredible book, very sad ending.

[akmargie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very excellent book. Enjoyed the honestly of the author and the transparency of her history behind the events in the book.

[paulkid_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Spare the rod and spoil the child? Seriously. This book is a great example of why it might be a bad idea to use the bible literally (or at all) when raising your kids. But I guess we knew that already. Still, if you like reading about screwed up childhoods like I do, then this is a good read for you. Or, If you're feeling like an inadequate parent, then reading this book may actually cheer you up a little, but not much.

[tanyatomato · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So very good. Julia is so brave to write this wonderful book about growing up with her adopted black brother, and reform school experience.

[keely_chace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Scheeres recounts her late teen years, first in her fundamentalist Christian home, dominated by her unloving mother and violent father, and later, in the oppressive Caribbean reform school to which she and her adopted brother David were sent. A gripping read.

[dms02 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

incredibly haunting - this story stuck with me for many weeks after I finished reading it.

[whoot_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A riveting, if disturbing, book. Couldn't put it down, but I was never sure if it was because I was so appalled or because I still held out hope that something would get better or someone would help. The amount of abuse and racism that occurs under the guise of Christianity is unbelievable!!! This reminded me a lot of Glass Castle - two lives where the parents are crazy and out of control but the children prove resilient. It would be fascinating to know more about Scheere's journey after this segment of her life - recovering from these incidents could not have been trivial!!

[chris_el-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Horrifying.

A traumatizing memoir about a traumatic childhood in the American mid-west. It's like watching a high speed car wreck in very slow motion. With every safety mechanism failing passengers before your eyes and you can't do anything to stop it. Everyone who should have been there for the author failed her and her brother. Even the justice system should have done more for her. Her family and their faith was the source of the hell in her life. Reform school reminded me of a light version of concentration camps just without the goal of extermination or producing anything. Lots of mind games and soul crushing in the name of Christianity.

Compelling and heart-wrenching.


I will say one small defense of the American mid-west, while I'm sure there are hateful people that live here (they can be found most anywhere), I've lived in the mid-west for over 20 years and I've never heard any of the hateful racist comments similar to those used against the author or her brother in real life. I'd like to think that things have improved since the 70s when much of this book took place.

[sparemethecensor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you care even a whit about the plight of young children of color and women, you'll be outraged by this book. I was. Julia Scheeres's childhood was marred by horrific racist and sexist acts, including numerous acts of violence against her and her brother. Her parents, devoted to Calvinist but lukewarm at best toward their children, were no help.This book includes a frightening inside look at Christian "reform schools" for "troubled teens" -- you know, the ones who drink and talk back in reaction to the sexual abuse they've had no emotional support in dealing with. Perhaps the most outraging part was the epilogue, where Scheeres notes that these schools are still operating today.This is not an easy book to read, but it's an eye-opening look at the dark side of fundamentalist evangelical Christianity.

[kewpie_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I had a lot of trouble finishing this book. First of all, I was surprised that considering how bitter and jaded the author was against Indiana, that this book would be considered for an Elliot Rosewater nominee. The author paints a very grim picture of the Lafayette area. I was shocked at the racist portrayals that seemingly everyone in the area suposedly has. Even her school teachers were openly anti-semetic and racist against African Americans. I worked really hard to get through her awful description of Hoosier life to get to her being sent to the Dominican Republic -- that section seemed even more outrageous than the first. I did some internet searching. Lo and behold, several people who previously attended the camp backed up her story. It didn't make it any more endearing to me. I think most of what she wrote would have been better for a private journal to be shared with a mental health councillor rather than the general public. I understand that she went through a horrible ordeal, but her vitriol was almost unbearable.

[midlevelbureaucrat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Riveting. Heart breaking. Shocking. Difficult to put down. Very different from what I thought it would be, but a wonderful memoir of a 16 year old girl and her brother, revealing the unseemly underside of evangelical Christianity, racism, and parenting. Don't miss the chance to read this one.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This memoir is very painful to read, searing even. Many times, I wondered how Scheeres managed to survive the experiences she relates sane enough to write about them as lucidly and powerfully as she does.

[theampersand · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Memoirs by people who had screwed-up childhoods are a guilty pleasure of mine, so it's hard for me to dislike "Jesus Land." Even so, Scheeres book has considerably less literary heft than say, entries in this genre from Mary Karr or Jeanette Walls. Still, "Jesus Land" is compulsively readable and often heartbreakingly sad, and it provides readers with a clear and disturbing picture of life inside Christian-themed teen recovery centers where Guantanamo-level abuses take place as a matter of course. While I'd read a few magazine articles about these sorts of teen camps, the details Scheeres provided still had the power to shock. Scheeres book also serves as an effective memorial for her brother, for whom she obviously felt a deep and abiding love. As a reader, I'm glad that she was able to get "Jesus Land" published. At the same time, there's a lot missing from Scheeres's story that might have made this a better, more insightful book. We see only a few glimpses of her father, and her older brothers and sisters are missing from this story almost entirely. Also, while Scheeres has since abandoned the faith in which she was raised, and one really can't blame her for doing so, she doesn't spend that much time explaining or critiquing it. As a former Catholic personally unfamiliar with American evangelism, some context might have been helpful. While I read "Jesus Land, I often wondered if her parents' religious values might have partly responsible for their awful parenting decisions, but Scheeres doesn't really delve in to this and lets their treatment of her more or less speak for itself. Her treatment of the racism her she and her brother suffer is similarly limited. While she makes astute observations about the racial dynamic within her own family, Scheeres doesn't spend much time trying to tie her experiences in to a larger narrative about race or explaining its deeper psychological or cultural motivations. It's possible that these criticisms are beside the point since this is, after all, an intensely personal book, and, in an interview included in my edition, Scheeres admits that she wrote it from the point of view of the teenager she used to be. Scheeres choice of viewpoint gives "Jesus Land" a certain immediacy; her descriptions of her sexual awakening are thrillingly explicit and powerful and provide a welcome and surprising counterpoint to the awful sexual violence found elsewhere in her memoir. At the same time, it often seems to limit her book thematically. She spends a surprising amount of time revisiting typical adolescent experiences that are not unique to her. I'd recommend this for fellow fans midlife memoirs, but other readers should probably start elsewhere.

[megrockstar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was written so eloquently it was hard to put down. The voice of the young girl just made you think she was right in front of you. Laughter at time and so sad at other times make this woman's life and memoir a fast read. I read primarily memoirs and this is definitely one of my favorites. The epilogue made me gasp!

[misfev · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Could not put this book down. It was definately a page turner. But it was also like watching a train wreck. You couldn't wait to read the next page, but yet you were almost afraid too. This book was unfortunately a memoir about a girl and her adopted black brother. The family moves to Indiana in the 80's, which incredibly is still rife with racism. Their mother is a psycho, and dad is violent. Especially to the adopted black brothers. It goes from the midwest to a real religious reform school in the Dominican Republic. It is also full of dark humor, which I love.