Annie on My Mind

Annie on My Mind

By:  Nancy Garden

Book Quote:

"Have you ever felt really close to someone?  So close that you can't understand why you and the other person have two separate skins?  I think it was Sunday when that feeling began."
- Chapter 7 p 21

Booktalk: 

Library Cat Rating:  😻 😻 😻 😻

Review:

   Sometimes it takes meeting the right person to help uncover a part of yourself that until that moment had remained undefined or perhaps even unnoticed. That's what happens for Liza Winthrop when she meets Annie Kenyon.  When seventeen year old Liza stumbles upon Annie singing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art she feels an instant connection with mysterious girl and instantly wants to know more about her.  As the girls grow closer, it becomes apparent that both desire more than a simple friendship.  While Annie has known for sometime that she is a lesbian, it is the first time Liza has ever put a name to the feelings she has had.  The two go on a journey of exploration as to what it means to be a lesbian couple in the 1980s, keeping their relationship a secret for as long as possible until it is exposed by a homophobic woman at Liza's school who catches the girls in an intimate moment.  In the aftermath, Liza is struggles to reconcile what happened and it is through her memories that we are told the story, waiting eagerly to find if the girls love will be able to overcome the diversity they face.  It is clear that months later Liza still has Annie on her mind, but will she be able to fully accept herself and get Annie back in her arms.

   VERDICT is that this is a novel that transcends time.  Annie on My Mind was first published in 1982 and has since been recognized as a historic piece of literature within the LGBTQ genre.  This moving story does not read as though it was written in a different century though and it is only the absence of certain technology that marks its time (i.e. the girls call each other on landlines instead of via cellphone).  The narration will hold the attention of teens and adults alike as you go on a journey of self-discovery and first love.  

Citation:
Garden, Nancy.  (1982, reprint 2007).  Annie on my mind.  New York, NY:  Square Fish.

Annotation:
Liza Winthrop has never thought of herself as gay.  When she meets Annie Kenyon and their friendship begins to evolve into something more, she will have to decide if pursuing their relationship is worth changing her perception of herself and her relationship with those around her.

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Other LGBTQ Recommended Reads:  

-Fun home:  A Family Tragicomic (see my review here)
-Weird Girl and What's His Name
-South of Sunshine
-Lies We Tell Ourselves

Extras:

Check out GLADD, an organization dedicated to sharing stories from the LGBTQ community.