I’ve heard wildly divergent perspectives on Joanna Brooks memoir The Book of Mormon Girl, including one convert who lives on the East Coast and is convinced that Joanna actually grew up in a cult, not vanilla Mormonism. I haven’t read the book yet, but I have been impressed by Joanna’s reasonable and kind tone in blog posts and interviews.

This review from award-winning playwright Mahonri Stewart makes me even more curious to read the book.

Anne and I consider ourselves devout Mormons. We connect deeply with and believe in Mormon scripture and theology… Despite that heartfelt and abiding faith, however, there have been times when we have felt like we were foreigners in our own religion… It is here that works like Joanna Brooks’ The Book of Mormon Girl have given me and my wife hope.

I know that I don’t agree with everything that Joanna believes, and so I probably won’t agree with every word in the book. And that, actually, is part of why I want to read the book.