May 1, 2022
An LGBTQ+ activist chronicles her experiences growing up in Jamaica, where same-sex activity is criminalized. The summer Jackson got her period, she wondered, "why couldn't I like girls and also love God?" From her spiritual and sexual awakenings as a Christian schoolgirl to being recognized for her courage and global activism by President Barack Obama during a state visit to Jamaica, Jackson traces the painful path of her fight against homophobia and rape culture in her native country. Despite being forced into conversion therapy by her conservative parents, a teenage Jackson came to embrace both her sexuality and her faith, though her relationship to the church as an institution remained complicated. After enduring "corrective rape" (a crime in which the perpetrators claim to "fix" the gay person through assault), Jackson navigated a less-than-sympathetic legal system to pursue justice. Her story is one of tragedy and heartbreak but also of curiosity, first love, and longing. She emerges from these traumatic experiences as a fierce advocate for queer youth and a riveting, deeply reflective storyteller. Readers with similar struggles will find encouragement and comfort in these pages. Of concern, however, is Jackson's uncritical recounting of a sexual relationship she describes as an "affair" with her 32-year-old tutor, Miss Campbell, when she was 17. Searing, tender, and beautifully written. (note by Jackson) (Memoir. 14-adult)
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June 1, 2022
Grades 10-12 Human rights and LGBTQ+ activist Jackson holds nothing back in this raw, inspiring memoir. Growing up in Jamaica, Jackson struggled with the cognitive dissonance of being deeply religious in a country where anyone identifying as LGBTQ+ was considered sick or "funny." When she found the courage to meet a woman from a dating chat room, she was attacked and raped by two men. She had been targeted by serial rapists, accused of more than 100 assaults, who were engaged in "corrective rape" against lesbian and bisexual girls and women. Moving back and forth in time, Jackson alternates her childhood, early relationships, and sexual awakening with the circumstances of being raped and the criminal investigation and trial that followed. Jackson writes movingly of developing her core belief that God is love and therefore those who come from that place are a vessel of God no matter whom they love. These experiences have led the author, still quite young, to pursue law school and a divinity degree while engaging in activism and advocacy on a global level.
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