Good Christian Girls by Elizabeth Bradshaw

Publication date: February 2024
LGBTQ+ author? Queer
Setting: Modern day East Texas
Content warnings: Religious trauma

This is a tender coming of age book about two 17-year-old girls at a Christian summer camp. Jo was sent there by her conservative Latinx family after she was caught kissing a girl. Lacey is the home schooled, sheltered daughter of the camp directors who lives year round at Camp Lavender.

The two become fast friends as they sneak out after curfew and talk about poetry.

I was drawn to this book because of the title. I used to be a “good Christian girl” before I happily became a “queer atheist boy.” I also had one of my first queer relationships at a summer camp. (All girls-summer camps are so gay, no matter the camp directors tell you!) So I had to read this.

This book has homophobic rhetoric you’d expect from a certain type of Christian. But it’s balanced with the support and connection that Jo and Lacey find in their friendship and from a few affirming adults they encounter outside their parents. That’s what makes the book entirely enjoyable to read.

As an adult, the shenanigans that the teenagers get up to in this book exhaust me. I am not sure they sleep much at all. But I think it’s realistic for what kids will do to find fun and connection in a stifling environment.

This is a young adult book and I think it will be a cathartic and affirming read for certain kids who find themselves in similar situations.

The book treads gently on what may be sensitive topics for its audience. A trusted adult lets Lacey know there are other types of Christians who feel differently than her parents about certain things, but don’t push that on her. Jo and Lacey never do anything more physically intimate than briefly touch hands. The worst swear word someone says is “hell” once, and largely they try not to swear.

The biggest trouble they get into is some underage drinking, but I think that’s fairly common conservative Christian girl behaviour.

Good Christian Girls is definitely a safe and fun book for young readers who want to explore being queer without too much of a culture shock. And for queer adults who want to relive a certain time in their lives!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy.