Annie on My Mind, by Nancy Garden (review)

novelsaboutqueerpeople:

This book is the story of Liza and Annie, two seventeen-year-old girls who meet at an art museum, become friends, and then fall in love. Liza tells the story of their relationship in flashback as she tries to write a letter to Annie. At its core it’s just a sweet love story. The book also talks about the struggles the girls, especially Liza, have in coming to terms with being gay — they face severe backlash from many of those around them when their relationship is discovered. (I’ll spoil the last third of the book if I go into detail on that, but not to worry, there’s a happy ending!)

I’ve heard Annie on My Mind described as a groundbreaking book in teen gay fiction. Personally, I can say that when I was seventeen and starting to think I might be gay, it was the first book I checked out of the library. It didn’t dispel my confusion (that took months!), but it still became one of my most cherished books. I’ve since discovered that it captures the feeling of being in love quite well. You can definitely tell it was written thirty years ago (both technology and, I would hope, mainstream attitudes towards gay people have progressed noticeably), but I don’t think it detracts from the story at all.

The 2007 reprint, which I own, includes an excellent interview with Nancy Garden in the back of the book.

Recommended.

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Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden. Young adult, 1982.