Teaching the Cat to Sit by Michelle Theall

But the real tension at the heart of the book is Michelle wrestling with where she came from, what it means to be Catholic, what her faith means to her in spite of the church's stance on social issues, as well as coping with her own mother's unwillingness to accept her loving relationship with her partner even though she dotes on Logan-and how sometimes you have to meet in the middle to get along with family. 'The book opens with Michelle taking on the priest in her Catholic church in Boulder, Colorado, who is reneging on his promise to baptize her four-year-old son, Logan, a mixed race kid who was in an abusive home with unfit teenage parents before she and her partner of eleven years Avery adopted him. Teaching the Cat to Sit examines the modern roles of motherhood and religion and demonstrates that our infinite capacity to love has the power to shape us all'. And she realizes that in order to be a good mother, she may have to be a bad daughter. Her quest to have her son accepted into the Church leads to a battle with Sacred Heart and with her mother that leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about the bonds of family and faith.

At forty-three years of age and seemingly settled in her decision to live life openly as a gay woman, Theall and her partner attempt to have their son baptized into the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in the liberal town of Boulder, Colorado. There, she made her home on an elk migration path facing the Continental Divide, speaking to God every day, but rarely seeing another human being. Shame and her longing for her mother's acceptance led her to deny her feelings and eventually run away to a remote stretch of mountains in Colorado.

Coming of age in the Texas Bible Belt, a place where it was unacceptable to be gay, Theall found herself at odds with her strict Roman Catholic parents, bullied by her classmates, abandoned by her evangelical best friend whose mother spoke in tongues, and kicked out of Christian organizations that claimed to embrace her-all before she'd ever held a girl's hand. From the time she was born, Michelle Theall knew she was different. Signs “Adventures of the Chuch-Lady Gang.” Barnes & Noble Arboretum.'A compelling memoir of a gay Catholic woman struggling to find balance between being a daughter and a mother raising her son with a loving partner in the face of discrimination. Signs “Stories of Hope and Humor.” Barnes & Noble La Frontera Village, 2701 Parker Road, Round Rock. Featuring authors John Whaley, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. Speaks and signs “The Here and Now.” BookPeople. Speaks and signs “Blood Always Tells.” BookPeople.Īnn Brashares. Speaks and signs “Wish You Happy Forever.” BookPeople. Speaks and signs “Thunderstruck & Other Stories.” BookPeople. Speaks and signs “Teaching the Cat to Sit.” BookPeople, 603 N. American Pie.” Barnes & Noble Arboretum, 10000 Research Blvd.

Teaching the Cat to Sit by Michelle Theall