Author: Nancy Garden
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 272 pages
Copyright: 1982
School Library Journal Review:
Gr 9 Up
Published more than 25 years ago, Nancy Garden's moving and poignant love story (Farrar, 1982) still rings true today. Liza and Annie, both 17 and attending different high schools, meet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and fall in love. Narrator Rebecca Lowman touchingly brings their story to life as they discover each other and the harsh and confusing realities that surround them. The teens face uncertain feelings and questions about their emotional and physical relationship. Told in the third person and through letters Liza is trying to write to Annie after they both are at college, Lowman does a fine job portraying the girls' emotions as well as the stark reactions that the other characters have toward them when their relationship is discovered. With quietly distinct voices and subtle pacing that matches perfectly the unfolding of the young romance, this audiobook will stand the test of time. Listeners will be swept up by and find themselves fully immersed in the story. Margaret Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award winner Nancy Garden is featured in an interview at the end of the book. A must-have for all GLBTQ collections.-Stephanie A. Squicciarini, Fairport Public Library, NY
Review:
Annie on My Mind is is a gentle love story told by Nancy Garden. Liza and Annie are two 17-year-old New Yorkers who meet, become friends, and slowly realize that their feelings are stronger than those reserved for friendship. They are confused, curious, tentative and intense with each other. They have no road map to guide their emotions and behavior, no understanding friends or adults to reassure them or to celebrate their relationship. Their love for each other feels so natural and good that neither is ashamed of the relationship, but they still keep it a secret from everyone in their lives.
While many young adult novels feature characters that are smart, socially savvy, blasé about sex and drugs, Liza and Annie are almost implausibly innocent and naïve. When the two girls initially meet by chance in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Annie is unselfconsciously singing to a painting in the American Wing. Soon after, they sword fight as imaginary knights in the Arms and Armor room.
The real point of this book is the relationship between Liza and Annie, how they dance around each other for months before the first tentative kiss, how they both fear and long for more than kissing and holding hands, how they learn to trust each other, and finally, how they learn to trust their love in the face of narrow-minded schoolmates, teachers and family.
Recommended.
Reading Level: Intermediate
Notes about Audience: Recommended for readers ages 15 and up
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