Summary

Chapter five begins with a background of the author’s heavily church-influenced upbringing. Tolentino was raised in Houston and was placed in the first grade at just four years old. In the beginning, Tolentino easily believed in God, and appreciated that good and evil were neatly compartmentalized.

Tolentino first began to question her faith at the end of elementary school. She was told not to watch Disney, because Disney World had become involved with gay people. Her Bible teacher confiscated her comics and peace-signed notebooks and replaced it with religious texts. When a girl at her school had died by electrocution, her death was framed as an absolute will of the Lord. By middle school, Tolentino became deeply ambivalent about her religion - despite her growing unease, she felt compelled to believe in God from a distance. When she got into the back of...