The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith [Paperback]

Joanna Brooks (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 7, 2012

From her days of feeling like “a root beer among the Cokes”—Coca-Cola being a forbidden fruit for Mormon girls like her—Joanna Brooks always understood that being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints set her apart from others. But, in her eyes, that made her special; the devout LDS home she grew up in was filled with love, spirituality, and an emphasis on service. With Marie Osmond as her celebrity role model and plenty of Sunday School teachers to fill in the rest of the details, Joanna felt warmly embraced by the community that was such an integral part of her family. But as she grew older, Joanna began to wrestle with some tenets of her religion, including the Church’s stance on women’s rights and homosexuality. In 1993, when the Church excommunicated a group of feminists for speaking out about an LDS controversy, Joanna found herself searching for a way to live by the leadings of her heart and the faith she loved.

The Book of Mormon Girl is a story about leaving behind the innocence of childhood belief and embracing the complications and heartbreaks that come to every adult life of faith. Joanna’s journey through her faith explores a side of the religion that is rarely put on display: its humanity, its tenderness, its humor, its internal struggles. In Joanna’s hands, the everyday experience of being a Mormon—without polygamy, without fundamentalism—unfolds in fascinating detail. With its revelations about a faith so often misunderstood and characterized by secrecy, The Book of Mormon Girl is a welcome advocate and necessary guide.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Oh wow. I double dare you to read The Book of Mormon Girl in your book club. Bring a casserole and roll up your sleeves for an original, provocative argument about dissent in faith communities! Even if you’re not one of those fine believers who store up food for the Apocalypse, you’re likely to agree that Joanna Brooks has singlehandedly redefined the word courage. Prepare to be surprised.” –Rhoda Janzen, author of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

"This gorgeously written, deeply intelligent memoir of an ordinary girlhood in an ordinary Mormon family is one of those most unusual and most valuable of personal stories, simultaneously sweeping and intimate, a book of both broad vision and precise detail. The Book of Mormon Girl is about one particular religious subculture, but it will resonate with anyone who cares about childhood and its echoes in the adult mind of a scholar who’s also a wise and innovative storyteller." --Jeff Sharlet, New York Times bestselling author of The Family and Sweet Heaven When I Die

“Laugh-out-loud funny and break-your-heart poignant. A triumph.”–Carol Lynn Pearson, author of No More Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons Around Our Gay Loved Ones

"Joanna Brooks captures Mormonism in revealing but tender ways that are sure to resonate with insiders and outsiders alike. Mormonism may not yet have found its Chaim Potok, but it has its Joanna Brooks."--R. B. Scott, author of Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics

“A pathbreaking and utterly necessary memoir.”–Carolyn Forché, celebrated poet and human rights activist

“A compelling memoir of being found and lost and found again. Brooks is a contemporary Mormon pioneer.”–Jana Riess, author of Flunking Sainthood and Mormonism for Dummies

“Disarming, funny, wrenching, and inspiring. This is a quietly fierce, authentic, and faithful voice, one that insists her religious tradition is young, and the next chapter yet to be written.”–Phillip Barlow, Ph.D., Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, Utah State University

"Enchanting...charming...throughout this heartfelt work [Joanna Brooks] remains braced and true to herself." --Publisher's Weekly

"The Book of Mormon Girl is a luminous ode to Brooks' passion for Mormonism, in spite of her church's rejection. It is a memoir written not just for herself, but for others who continue to pursue their faith in the face of abandonment because "No one should be left to feel like she is the only one broken and seeking." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

"A balanced, heartfelt memoir of honoring a faith and a heritage while challenging church teachings." --Shelf Awareness

About the Author

Joanna Brooks is a national voice on Mormon life and politics, an award-winning scholar of religion and American culture, and the author or editor of five books. She has been featured on American Public Media’s On Being; NPR’s All Things Considered and Talk of the Nation; BBC’s Americana, Interfaith Voices, and Radio West; and in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the CNN Belief Blog, and the Huffington Post. She is senior correspondent for the online magazine ReligionDispatches.org and offers answers to seekers of all stripes at her own site AskMormonGirl.com. Follow @askmormongirl on Twitter, or visit her at JoannaBrooks.org.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Original edition (August 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451699689
• ISBN-13: 978-1451699685
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

194 of 221 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Mormon culture from an outsider's perspective February 14, 2012

By Tustin3rdWardMember

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a very difficult book for me to review. Autobiographical works, by their very nature, are about one's personal impressions. For me, the difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that, at least through the college years, my life paralleled that of the author. While I preceded her by a few years, I heard the same Sunday School lessons from the same people, I was in the same dance festival, I went to the same university, and I was even deeply influenced by the same professors (most notably Eugene England). Brother Brooks, Joanna's father, was one of the greatest spiritual teachers in my life. With that in mind, I will simply share a few impressions rather than attempt any form scholarly analysis.

Joanna's depiction of the Mormon culture when and where we were raised is spot on. The emphasis on heritage, good works, family, emergency preparedness, the feeling that the Second Coming was imminent ... I heard all the same stories and sang all the same songs. I share her love for the people and the culture that we were raised in.

However, being a Mormon is not only about being part of a culture, it is being part of a religion that has specific beliefs. Thus, while the book accurately conveys the superficial details of the Mormon culture of Southern California, it is completely off where it comes to the Mormon perspective. Can one be a Jew by loving the Jewish culture while denying Moses' claim to revelation? Can one be Islamic by loving the Islamic culture while denying Mohammad's prophetic calling? While religious beliefs may give rise to certain cultural characteristics, the religion is the beliefs, not the culture.

Joanna's religion appears to differ fundamentally from that of Mormons in at least two ways: she appears to deny the divine origin of the law of chastity (the notion that sexual relations should be limited to a man and a woman who are lawfully married), and the notion that men and women were designed and intended to fill different roles. These are two points on which most of society, and the vast majority of her readers, will side with her. Regardless of your position on these topics (and here is not the place for that kind of debate), it must be recognized that these are core beliefs of the Mormon faith. The culture she so loves would never have come into existence without them, and would cease to exist if they were removed. Painful though it may be for some to hear, the Jesus that the Mormons worship will always remain the one that said "go and sin no more" rather than "I'm okay, you're okay". We will always strive to love the sinner, but will never approve what we believe to be the sin.

Joanna does an excellent job at conveying the pain produced by loving the Mormon culture while disdaining some of the religion's core beliefs. My heart goes out to her. I wish there were an easy cure. But the one she suggests, ripping core beliefs from the religion, would surely kill it.

Two final notes: for a Mormon's perspective of the Mormon culture, and to gain an appreciation of how diverse it is, I recommend the autobiographical profiles found at Mormon.org. For the record, caffeinated sodas are not taboo for Mormons, though Joanna is correct that during our childhood many church members implied that they were. When I was on a youth outing, LaRue (featured in the book), who was Bishop at the time, only brought Coke for us to drink, to dispel the notion that it was forbidden.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A compelling read but only a fraction of the story February 14, 2012

By Rachel

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the first chapter of her book, Joanna Brooks writes

"I grew up in a world where all the stories I heard arrive at the same conclusions: the wayfarer restored, the sick healed, the lost keys found, a singular truth confirmed. And an orthodox Mormon story is the only kind of story I ever wanted to tell.

But these are not the kinds of story life has given me."

I bought this book because I was curious. My life story is an echo of Joanna's --- I was raised in a staunch Mormon family, the youngest of seven children. I am a strong-willed liberal feminist girl who stopped believing in the Mormon church when I was sixteen. I bought this book because wanted to understand how the author balances her personal beliefs with the beliefs of her family's faith. I struggle to balance the love I have for my family with their prejudice against people who leave the Mormon church.

Joanna devotes a lot of time to her childhood and the security she felt growing up in such a strong religious tradition. There are hints of the turmoil that would come later, hints of dissonance between her personal convictions and the teachings of the Mormon church. But mostly, she concentrates on the happy memories. There is a saccharine quality to her recounting, a need to present her childhood as being the orthodox Mormon story.

Then she very abruptly shifts to a period of turmoil. There isn't much segue from her recounting of a happy childhood to the disillusionment of adulthood. Her recounting of the excommunications of prominent feminists --- the September Six --- came across as very rote. There was a lot of heartache bundled up into just a few terse pages. Her battle with the controversy surrounding Prop 8 was more vivid, although there was still only a limited explanation of how the author dealt with the turmoil.

I wanted to see more personal development in this book. I still don't understand how the author deals with the dissonance between her faith and her personal beliefs. The author displays an enormous amount of pride in the Mormon tradition, which I understand. But I still don't understand how the author has managed to reconcile her convictions with the actions of the Mormon church.

This book serves an important role and I would recommend reading it. However, the reader should understand that this story only scratches the surface.

49 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An moving and well-written work January 19, 2012

By Stephen Jenkins

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

In the movie "Shadowlands," C.S. Lewis says, "We read to know we are not alone." After reading Joanna's book, I feel much less alone.

Joanna Brooks honestly and forthrightly lays out a thesis for claiming or reclaiming a faith that at times feels as though it has abandoned us. While some may view any criticism or disagreement with the Church as being "anti-Mormon," this book simply isn't. Joanna's love for the faith of her mother and grandmothers pervades every page of this book. Like most relationships, that love can also cause an enormous amount of pain which is also evident. There are passages that are simply heart-wrenching.

Joanna's mastery of prose and imagery make this a wonderfully readable book. At turns poetic, it weaves both experience and imagery together in ways that illustrates a point without belaboring it. Indeed, the book's relatively short length only serves to underscore the power of the message.

What frightens me are Joanna's own words when she writes, "...telling unorthodox versions of our story is sometimes viewed as the work of enemies and apostates." But all of us who claim this faith as our own heritage must stand next to her and speak with one voice her words when she later writes, "I am not the enemy, and I will not be disappeared from the faith of my ancestors."