| 9780062374608 |
| (hbk.) |
| 0062374605 |
Available:*
Library | Material Type | Call Number | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Penrose Library | Book | 289.3092 COOP COOP | Biography | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Now a Lifetime Original Movie--Trapped: The Alex Cooper Story!
Read the first-hand account of a young woman whose bravery, courage, and resilience while enduring gay conversion therapy inspires us all in the fight for freedom, acceptance, and truth.
When Alex Cooper was fifteen years old, life was pretty ordinary in her sleepy suburban town and nice Mormon family. But something was gnawing at her that made her feel different. These feelings exploded when she met Yvette, a girl who made Alex feel alive in a new way, and with whom Alex would quickly fall in love.
Alex knew she was holding a secret that could shatter her family, her church community, and her life. Yet when this secret couldn't be hidden any longer, she told her parents that she was gay, and the nightmare began. She was driven from her home in Southern California to Utah, where, against her will, her parents handed her over to fellow Mormons who promised to save Alex from her homosexuality.
For eight harrowing months, Alex was held captive in an unlicensed "residential treatment program" modeled on the many "therapeutic" boot camps scattered across Utah. Alex was physically and verbally abused, and many days she was forced to stand facing a wall wearing a heavy backpack full of rocks. Her captors used faith to punish and terrorize her. With the help of a dedicated legal team in Salt Lake City, Alex eventually escaped and made legal history in Utah by winning the right to live under the law's protection as an openly gay teenager.
Alex is not alone; the headlines continue to splash stories about gay conversion therapy and rehabilitation centers that promise to "save" teenagers from their sexuality. Saving Alex is a courageous memoir that tells Alex's story in the hopes that it will bring awareness and justice to this important issue.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Raised in the Mormon Church, Cooper was always a rebellious teenager. With her Mormon friends, she snuck out of her parents' house, smoked marijuana, and talked back. None of these actions caused much drama in her household, but when the high school sophomore admitted to her parents that the hickey on her neck was from a girl, their family life exploded. Told that she was going to live with her grandparents, Cooper instead was sent to a residential home in St. George, UT, where she was mentally and physically abused in order to "fix" her homosexuality. With the assistance of caring teachers and friends, Cooper legally escaped the respected Mormon family who were trying to "cure" her, and a Salt Lake City pro bono lawyer helped her win the right to live with her parents as an openly gay teenager. Cooper never tried to completely break with her parents; she makes it clear that she wants to be their daughter and to be honest about her identity. This memoir is sure to rile teens to action. Information about Gay-Straight Alliances, PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People), and student rights is integrated effectively into the narrative, and even reluctant readers will enjoy this memoir. VERDICT A moving, timely memoir perfect for teens who love autobiographies or LGBTQ books, or reluctant readers who need a short biography to fulfill a class assignment.-Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this affecting memoir, Cooper recounts the horrifying abuse inflicted on her at an unlicensed residential treatment program in southern Utah. After Alex came out to her parents as a lesbian, they sent her to strangers who subjected her to physical and emotional torture and an orthodox version of Mormonism in hopes of making her realize her sexuality was a choice. The last third of the book recounts how Alex, with the help of a dedicated lawyer, managed to swim upstream against the Utah court system and gain the legal right to refuse reparative therapy. It's harrowing to read how outsiders, including religious leaders, and her own parents ignored Alex's various attempts to escape and constantly sided with her abusers. Even with Alex's explanatory asides, some non-Mormon readers might be occasionally puzzled by cultural practices and terminology. The positive ending to her story (and the slim chances for such an ending in the first place) calls all readers to do more for vulnerable youth. Without offering any easy reconciliation between homosexuality and faith, Alex's story provides an example of how to not be consumed by anger and hate toward an abusive version of religion. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* When 15-year-old Alex comes out, her devout Mormon parents send her to an unlicensed residential facility in southern Utah that promises to cure her. The married couple who run the facility out of their home have no therapeutic or counseling training, and they physically and emotionally abuse Alex. When she tries to escape, for example, she is punched, beaten with a belt, and made to stand for hours at a time facing a wall and wearing a backpack filled with rocks. When, after months, she is finally permitted to go to school, she finds both a supportive friend and a courageous teacher who put her in touch with a Salt Lake City attorney, who agrees to represent her pro bono. Thus begins a long legal process in a state that is less than sympathetic to LGBT teens. Even though readers know the outcome Alex wins the right to live under the law's protection as an openly gay teenager the process is still suspenseful, and the well-written account of her eight months of reparative therapy makes for compelling reading. Alex's horrifying story is one that needs to be heard, and her book is an eloquent testament to that. It is encouraging proof that, as Alex is told, things do get better.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2016 Booklist
Table of Contents
| Prologue: Dead Bud | p. 1 |
| 1 Families Are Forever | p. 3 |
| 2 Cracks in the Plan | p. 8 |
| 3 Just This One Girl | p. 16 |
| 4 Opening Up | p. 23 |
| 5 "Get Out. Just Go!" | p. 35 |
| 6 Welcome to Utah | p. 44 |
| 7 I'm Going to Be Here a Long Time | p. 51 |
| 8 "You Think You're Gay, but That Is Not How God Made You" | p. 68 |
| 9 Free to Choose | p. 79 |
| 10 The Burden of Homosexuality | p. 86 |
| 11 Invisible | p. 93 |
| 12 Giving In | p. 122 |
| 13 Going Back to School | p. 145 |
| 14 Can't Take Another Day | p. 164 |
| 15 Safe | p. 177 |
| 16 Going Home | p. 193 |
| 17 Standing Strong | p. 217 |
| 18 Moving On | p. 230 |
| 19 Sharing My Story | p. 238 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 247 |
| Resources for Families | p. 248 |
