15 Dec 2011

Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden

#10: Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden

For my Spring class, I read a lot of YA classics, or “touchstones,” as we called them. Out of the bunch (20+), the only ones I really loved?

The Catcher in the Rye

To Kill A Mockingbird

and Annie On My Mind.

That’s kind of a high compliment, eh?

It’s hard to read YA/work in libraries/get an advanced degree in children’s lit and have not hear about Nancy Garden’s book. For those of you who aren’t in any of those circles, Annie On My Mind was published in 1982, at a time when novels featuring GLBTQ protagonists were scarcely available or accepted. But, as you know, I’ve never been into history, especially YA from the 80s, and maybe I’m horridly heteronormative, but I never felt the urge to pick up this one on my own.

However, this is a prime example of how the almighty syllabus sometimes leads me to the kind of book I like. I loved this book because it was a contemporary YA love story, and a damn good one. Many YA romances feel forced to me, like an author really would like to create some romantic tension so they throw in a girl and a guy and hope for the best. But Liza and Annie have this authentic, complicated connection that is rare for two characters. I don’t even know how to begin to describe this in literary terms. Magical on-paper chemistry.

And if I am a sucker for YA romance, I am a super-sucker for YA romance that tells it like it is, and Annie On My Mind does that as well. As I read, I was rooting for Liza and Annie – just wait it out until college, ladies! It will get easier! – but I was also concerned that they were falling in love too fast, that someone was bound to be heartbroken because they hadn’t laid out the terms of their relationship, that their entire school and community would rally against them. And Garden doesn’t shy away from all of this – to a certain extent, all of these horrible things do happen to Liza and Annie. To make matters worse, this is a Senior Year book – the story ends with everyone getting ready for college, for a new life. Who knows what will happen after that???

And in case you need further convincing, I give you this: I read this book during one of my airline nightmare days, and despite being distracted by weather/running through airports/not knowing who was going to pick me up/fear of flying… I still remember this book clearly and fondly.

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