Trailer Park Tuesday: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies. Unless their last name is Grisham or King, authors will probably never see their trailers on the big screen at the local cineplex. And that's a shame because a lot of hard work goes into producing these short marriages between book and video. So, if you like what you see, please spread the word and help these videos go viral.

Emily M. Danforth's debut novel The Miseducation of Cameron Post came out earlier this year, but its trailer only came to my attention a few weeks ago.  The novel has generated a lot of critical praise, including this blurb from Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife: “If Holden Caulfield had been a gay girl from Montana, this is the story he might have told—it’s funny, heartbreaking, and beautifully rendered.  Emily Danforth remembers exactly what it’s like to be a teenager, and she has written a new classic.”  Here's a brief summary of the book, which is being billed as a Young Adult novel, but which seems to have appeal far beyond the YA boundaries (at least it does to me):

When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl. But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is soon forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone (as her grandmother might say), and Cam becomes an expert at both. Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship—one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to “fix” her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self—even if she’s not exactly sure who that is.

With Hollywood production values, the trailer for The Miseducation of Cameron Post is highly effective at not only intriguing viewers to buy the book, but also giving us a sensual feel for a place and the people who live there.  The short video stands out for its pitch-perfect narration and wistful background music.  I also love the shots of Miles City, Montana and the surrounding fields of grain nodding in the wind.  Four stars for this excellent trailer!