Click here to pre-order for the August 7 release of the new and expanded edition of The Book of Mormon Girl.

“I can’t believe how wonderful your book was.  Made me feel less alone, and most importantly, made eel like I can be myself at church and don’t necessarily need to run away and sit on the sidelines of Mormonism.”–Tawnya in Salt Lake City, Utah

“This is one of those books where I can’t wait till the next chance I get to read it. I take extra long baths and extra trips to the bathroom to sneak in a couple pages. Free time is precious with a teething baby and 4 year old!”–Laci in Phoenix, AZ

“Your book was so forthright, funny, and spiritual.  I devoured it in one night.  Reminded me of growing up in Southern California Mormonism. Thank you!”–Mark in American Fork, Utah

“I’m speechless. I want to hand your book to other Catholic women like me. Thank you, thank you, thank you”–Nadia

“Thank you so much for every courageous and loving page of your book! I could not put it down and read it in a day. I laughed, cried, snorted, and sobbed and felt like my story was being told. Thank you for speaking up and for being true to you and giving Mormon girls like me and my daughters hope and peace in following our hearts.”–Alyson in Arizona

“Your story inspires me to continue unravelling my own.”–Katherine in Boise

Here are some rocking reviews:

“This is an incredibly well-written, intelligent but emotional look at the Mormon religion  . . . I was blown away by how Joanna balances honesty about certain less savory aspects of LDS history and culture with a profound love and respect for the religion and its heritage.  Unlike other Mormon or ex-Mormon memoirs I have encountered, this one is undeniably fair, and it fills a much-needed niche. This is the Mormon memoir we’ve been waiting for.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Joanna’s memoir is her rather poetic call for more love in the world in the final chapter of the book. I loved. I loved this book.”–The Blue Bookcase Blog

“I don’t just like Joanna Brooks’ memoir of growing up ‘in a conservative Mormon home among the last great orange groves of Orange County, California;’ I freaking loved it.  I want to buy stacks of them, put on my nicest prairie length skirt and go door to door asking my neighbors to read The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories From an American Faith and then pray to Heavenly Mother for a witness of its truth. I say this as an atheist who has never been a Mormon lest you think the honesty and heartbreak that pours off the pages of The Book of Mormon Girl is limited to the Elect. You don’t have to be a boy to love Catcher in the Rye, or a Jew to relate to the Diary of Anne Frank, and Brooks memoir lands squarely in that tradition.–Crazy Woman Creek, Feminist Mormon Housewives blog

“The Book of Mormon Girl is a window into contemporary Mormon history, told from the minority view, what I’ve termed “progressive Mormonism.” It is helpful to understand that view, so this is a book worth reading whether you agree with the author’s views or not.”–Times and Seasons blog

“Brooks dispels the myth that Mormon women are all cut out of the same cloth, with the same thoughts and beliefs. She shows that it’s okay to grieve for the things we wish were different, that we can find our voice, even if we’re most comfortable speaking quietly and politely, and that we can love the church and want to be part of it without embracing every aspect of it. The Book of Mormon Girl is an engrossing and important memoir.”–Shelah, Segullah

“Warmth, humor, connective threads,and spiritual yearnings and testifying make me feel like, as a Utah Mormon girl, welcome at Joanna Brooks’ Mormon feast.  I devoured this book.  And I encourage others to do the same.”–Emily, By Common Consent

“Joanna Brooks has produced a collection of memories and stories with imagery that will linger long with me.  There will be other books of Mormon stories, and born-again stories, and memoirs from every tradition, and there will be light and happiness, and there will be blood. Joanna’s is one experience among many – but one told with a power, grace, and humor that you will not forget.”–Paul Harvey, Religion in American History

“This is a story of deeply loving one’s faith, surviving its narrowness, renouncing its arrogance, and ultimately reclaiming the church. It is as smartly rendered as language can be, and it is beautifully, universally true. It gives me hope. Hope for our miscounted daughters, for our misunderstood grandmothers, and for the achingly faithful hearts, like mine, still beating and bleeding for peace, tolerance, and the seemingly lost cause of human respect. It gives me hope for our common lineage: love.”–Karen Maezen Miller, author of Momma Zen:  Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood and Hand Wash Cold:  Instructions for an Ordinary Life.

And here’s some more nice words about the book from people I admire:

“Disarming, funny, wrenching, and inspiring. This is a quietly fierce, authentic, and faithful voice, one that insists her religious tradition is young, and the next chapter yet to be written.”–Phillip Barlow, Ph.D., Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, Utah State University

“Laugh-out-loud funny and break-your-heart poignant. A triumph.”–Carol Lynn Pearson, author of No More Goodbyes: Circling the Wagons Around Our Gay Loved Ones

“A compelling memoir of being found and lost and found again. Brooks is a contemporary Mormon pioneer.”–Jana Riess, author of Flunking Sainthood and Mormonism for Dummies

Every Mormon girl has a story to tell.  This groundbreaking memoir brings you into one of America’s most fascinating but least understood religious traditions. With humor, tenderness, and honesty, The Book of Mormon Girl reveals what it’s like to grow up in a world where angels stand at our bedsides and ancestors know our names, where Coca-Cola is forbidden fruit and Marie Osmond is a style icon. This is a story about leaving behind the innocence of childhood belief and embracing the complications and heartbreaks that come to every adult life of faith.

• June 1 – 3, I’ll be at the Rocky Mountain Retreat.  Join us!
• June 11, I’ll be speaking at the Hevesi Jewish Heritage Library / YM&YWHA on 108th Street in Queens, New York, at 1 p.m.
• This September, I’ll be visiting Southern Utah University and IUPUI.

AND IN OTHER NEWS:

• Thank you to the CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS for naming me one of the top 13 religious women to watch this year. Honored.
• Grazie to Marie Claire Italy magazine for profiling The Book of Mormon Girl.
• What’s up Daily Beast! Talking about the book, politics, and faith here, thanks to reporter Jamie Reno.
• Thanks to the San Diego Union Tribune for a lovely front page write-up about my Ask Mormon Girl blog (2/19/12).
• CNN.COM sent some very lovely people to hang out with my family for a few days.  Read the resulting profile–”Kicking up dirt and crossing the plains: a new Mormon Pioneer”–and welcome to our world!
• In January, I visited the CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS to talk about religion in the presidential campaign.  See the panel and listen to the podcast here.
• Thanks to PBS RELIGION AND ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY for a great chat about Mitt Romney and Mormonism.
• What does 2012 mean to Mormons?  My take here at the Washington Post.
• Thanks to Guy Raz at NPR’s ALL THINGS CONSIDERED for a terrific visit about why Mitt Romney’s candidacy might be making Mormons feel both excited and anxious.
• MORMON DEMYSTIFIED: It was terrific talking with Krista Tippet, host of the acclaimed public radio show On Being, about Mormonism. Listen here.
• BREAKING NEWS: Politico says I’m one of “50 Politicos to Watch.” Follow @askmormongirl on Twitter for my take on Mormon life and politics, or read me at Religion Dispatches.
• ASK MORMON GIRL BLOG:  The legendary Feminist Mormon Housewives blog is home for my Q&A column Ask Mormon Girl, your source for unorthodox but friendly perspectives on Mormon thought and culture. Have a question burning in your bosom?  Write askmormongirl at gmail.com.