My Name Is Sarah Armstrong — Judith Turner

It is 1958 when fourteen-year-old Sarah Armstrong first writes in her journal about her role model, Margaret MacAuley, who survived a dangerous journey with her immigrant family in 1856 to join the Mormon Church in Utah. As Sarah continues to mature in Salt Lake City, she must face important choices after her father decides to leave the Mormon Church.

Shunned by her extended family and the Mormon community, Sarah struggles between the influences of her controlling father and a fundamentalist church. After a popular and influential teacher notices her plight and steers her toward academic success, Sarah begins to dream about going away to college and leaving a place she feels she no longer belongs. Unfortunately, her pursuit of independence causes more friction in the family. While Sarah attempts to balance conflicts, she must find a way to be a good daughter while remaining true to herself as a young woman. But as she is about to discover, it is a difficult path to navigate amid societal expectations of 1950s women.

My Name Is Sarah Armstrong shares the tale of a young womans coming-of-age journey as she attempts to find her place in the shadow of the Mormon Church.