Jesus Land: A Memoir

By Julia Scheeres

New York Times bestseller: An “exquisitely wrought memoir” about how “love can flourish even in the harshest climates”—for readers of The Liar’s Club and Running with Scissors (People).

This poignant, darkly funny account of two siblings—one white, one Black—growing up in the Christian fundamentalist communities of Indiana and the Dominican Republic is “one of the best memoirs in years” (Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird).

Julia and her adopted brother, David, are 16 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, 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.
 
Over a decade after its first publication, Jesus Land remains deeply resonant with readers. This New York Times bestselling memoir is a gripping tale of rage and redemption, hope and humor, morality and malice—and most of all, the truth: that being a good person takes more than just going to church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• 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

[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.

[autumnesf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A memoir on interracial adoption, child abuse and fanatical religion. Not easy subject matter but very well written. I couldn't put it down.

[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.

[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.

[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!

[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!!

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

All I can say is this woman is a survivor!

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[gretchenlg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unputdownable. Devastating, True.

[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.

[bravenewbks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This started just a little slow for me, but within a couple of chapters, I was riveted. The book is very well-written, with a steady, honest voice -- so honest, in fact, that it was like having a new friend open up to you about her terrible, tragic-in-some-ways-but-funny-in-others childhood.

I highly recommend sitting down with this book and a few glasses of wine on an evening when you've got a few free hours.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[soam_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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

[dms02 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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

[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.

[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.