You Can't Buy Love Like That

October 1, 2017
Every week, Anderson endured threats of hell and damnation from the pulpit of her Fundamentalist Baptist church. Her minister emphasized not God's love but God's wrath. Told to choose heaven or hell, at the young age of 12, she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior. Everything was fine, she told herself, until I developed my first crush on an older girl. Despite her sexual predilection, she tried to conform by dating members of the opposite sex and even came close to marrying a young man. But this only led to bouts of anxiety and feelings of self-doubt. Slowly, she started to find comfort in her own identity. And when she came out to her mother, Anderson found a sense of calmness that had eluded her for all those years. Although she makes it clear that she still struggled in her relationships, and even took a long-term hiatus from committing to anyone, she finally took the time to get to know herself. A candid and kindhearted memoir of one woman's personal battle.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)