Duck Egg Blue, Derrick Neill, Prometheus Books, 1999
Cameron Wright is a young man who has completed all but one of the requirements for his Eagle Scout badge. During an interview with the Eagle Scout board, he says he doesn't know whether or not he believes in God. His badge is held up until he "reconsiders" his answer. His ultrareligious father had more than something to do with it. His father also says that Cameron's scale model of the Grand Canyon for his high school science class is all wrong. (He used the color Duck Egg Blue to paint the river.)
Meantime, Mark Edwards, Cameron's science teacher, who is also dating his divorced mother, is being pressured by the principal to give "creation science" equal time in the classroom. It not only threatens his cherished position at the school, but also threatens the separation between church and state. The school's Christian Club, sponsored and run by a teacher, is no help.
Cameron spends the school year trying to decide if he should tell the Eagle Scout board what they want to hear and get his badge, or stand up for his beliefs.
When writing about creationism, it's easy to take an attitude of I'm Right, You're Wrong. Neill doesn't do that. Some people will like it, and some will hate it, but everyone should read Duck Egg Blue.
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