Book of Mormon Girl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over the years, I\u2019ve experimented with several ways to introduce students to the topic of Mormonism: either South Park or the song \u201cAll-American Prophet\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2012\/09\/book-of-mormon-girl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book of Mormon Girl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the years, I\u2019ve experimented with several ways to introduce students to the topic of Mormonism: either South Park or the song \u201cAll-American Prophet\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2012\/09\/book-of-mormon-girl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Anxious Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-06T09:20:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-09-06T04:27:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/files\/2012\/09\/bom_girl_cover.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"johnturner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"johnturner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2012\/09\/book-of-mormon-girl\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2012\/09\/book-of-mormon-girl\/\",\"name\":\"Book of Mormon Girl\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-06T09:20:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-06T04:27:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/976685779e3256328b03af5f2c9d69ca\"},\"description\":\"Over the years, I\u2019ve experimented with several ways to introduce students to the topic of Mormonism: either South Park or the song \u201cAll-American Prophet\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2012\/09\/book-of-mormon-girl\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2012\/09\/book-of-mormon-girl\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2012\/09\/book-of-mormon-girl\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Book of Mormon Girl\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/\",\"name\":\"Anxious Bench\",\"description\":\"The Relevance of Religious History for Today\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/976685779e3256328b03af5f2c9d69ca\",\"name\":\"johnturner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f393838d8f979f64dbee7fd63fd8bfdc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f393838d8f979f64dbee7fd63fd8bfdc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"johnturner\"},\"description\":\"In the fall of 2012, I will become Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University. 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{"id":1361,"date":"2012-09-06T05:20:48","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T09:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?p=1361"},"modified":"2012-09-06T00:27:29","modified_gmt":"2012-09-06T04:27:29","slug":"book-of-mormon-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2012\/09\/book-of-mormon-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Book of Mormon Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Now there\u2019s one more great option: Joanna Brooks\u2019s The Book of Mormon Girl<\/em><\/a>: Memoir of an American Faith<\/em>. I reviewed the memoir<\/a> in last Sunday\u2019s Washington Post<\/em>: $\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Brooks describes her 1980s Southern California Mormon<\/em> childhood in loving and witty detail: the search for a non-caffeinated beverage at birthday parties, an overabundance of greasy casseroles and a Mormon festival at the Rose Bowl featuring 15,000 sateen-clad dancers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyone wanting an introduction to Mormon culture<\/a> in the 1980s should look no further. It\u2019s a vivid, endearing, and hilarious portrait. LDS culture today is not identical \u2013 I would love to find an equally evocative account of Mormonism childhood in the early twenty-first century. Perhaps some of our readers can bring us up to the present.<\/p>\n

One of the things in the book that disappointed me but didn\u2019t surprise me was the extent of evangelical anti-Mormonism described. Brooks recounts that a \u201cfriend once invited the 13-year-old Brooks to an evangelical youth gathering at which a stand-up comic ended his routine with a deadly serious warning that \u2018the Mormon Church<\/a> is a cult.\u2019\u201d Protestant churches advertised showings of The Godmakers<\/em> on their signs. It\u2019s hard to imagine that this sort of behavior inspired young Latter-day Saints in California to seriously consider evangelical Christianity as a religious option.<\/p>\n

My conclusion:<\/p>\n

Brooks\u2019s sprightly yet thoughtful prose, her carefully constructed narrative and her passionate yet forgiving activism make hers a rare memoir that ended too soon. It is a triumphal declaration of unorthodox faith and an engaging \u2014 if unconventional \u2014 introduction to an American religion.<\/em><\/p>\n

For those interested in more, see this video of Brooks\u2019s appearance<\/a> on the Daily Show<\/em>. For those interested in much more, see an extended interview<\/a> at Mormon Stories<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Finally, this post from Paul Harvey <\/a>at Religion in American History from half a year ago deserves at least one more read.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"