Surrender Your Sons
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3.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Connor Major’s summer break is turning into a nightmare.
His SAT scores bombed, the old man he delivers meals to died, and when he came out to his religious zealot mother, she had him kidnapped and shipped off to a secluded island. His final destination: Nightlight Ministries, a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.”
But Connor’s troubles are only beginning. At Nightlight, everyone has something to hide—from the campers to the “converted” staff and cagey camp director—and it quickly becomes clear that no one is safe. Connor plans to escape and bring the other kidnapped teens with him. But first, he’s exposing the camp’s horrible truths for what they are—and taking this place down.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Everything starts going wrong for Connor Major, 17, after he comes out of the closet. Instead of "saving his life" as his Iranian boyfriend Ario Navissi predicts, admitting that he's gay puts Connor in danger. His "uber-religious" mother sends him away from Ambrose, Ill., to a conversion camp on an isolated island off Costa Rica run by her charismatic, tyrannical minister, Rev. Stanley Packard. At Nightlight Ministries, Connor witnesses cruel punishments and learns that everyone, campers and staff members alike, has dark secrets. He's determined to get himself and all the campers off the island, but first he needs to gather enough evidence to get the camp shut down for good. Though the pacing feels off (on his first day at camp, Connor pieces together a sinister puzzle about Reverend Packard's past, views a murder, falls in love with a cabinmate, and helps execute an escape plan), campers emerge as distinct individuals from varied backgrounds, facing challenges on and off the island. Those sensitive to violence and queer pain may wish to steer clear, but though this debut depicts extreme events, messages about struggles with internalized homophobia and the world's treatment of those who are different ring true. Ages 14 up.
