Annie on My Mind

Title Annie on My Mind
Author Nancy Garden
Garden was born in Boston, Massachusetts and currently splits her time between Massachusetts and Maine. She was the recipient of the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom award for her work towards anti-censorship, particularly in response to attempts to ban Annie on My Mind.
ISBN 0374404143
Publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Copyright Date 1982
Reading Level/Interest Age 12+
Genre Issues: Sexual Identity; LGBT Fiction
Plot Summary
When Annie on My Mind begins, the narrator, Liza, has just started her freshman year at MIT and is reminiscing about her last year in high school. One New York, November day, 17-year-old student body president Liza meets a fascinating girl named Annie at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They go to different schools and both of them feel not quite at home there, but together, they find that they are comfortable and become fast friends. As their friendship grows, both girls realize that their feelings are not platonic and that they love each other, intimately and intensely. Annie and Liza explore their relationship, dealing with the usual confusion and fear that are common to many coming out stories. When Liza volunteers to cat sit for her two female teachers who live together, she and Annie make believe, for a while, that they also live together, but their happiness is spoiled when they are caught.
Critical Evaluation
Annie on My Mind is considered an important piece of teen fiction, particularly as it was one of the first novels to tell the story of two lesbian teens, without the extremely negative consequences found in other similar novels. Although this novel might have a significant place in the canon of LGBT teen fiction, I did not feel that the story much resonated with me and as I am several years older than the oldest young adult, I imagine that this novel would not be particularly appealing to most teen readers. For example, the characters of Annie and Liza, though extremely likeable, are almost too likeable. Though they have some moments of doubt and dishonesty, they are truly innocent, wide-eyed characters, without too much substance or edge. And, though there are scenes that are notable exceptions, much of the story exists without much color or imagination – Liza’s New York could just as well have been any other town in America. Regardless, Garden’s descriptions of young, tender romance are poignant and achingly honest, particularly in the longing and the desire to be open to the world about their love. For this reason, I think this would be a great book for a more mature reader who is interested in character development and romance, rather than the eye-catching prose of more modern fiction. Reader’s Annotation
Liza is 17, student body president, hoping to get into MIT and…in love. Only Liza’s in love with her friend Annie and even though Annie loves her back, their relationship will never be easy…
Curriculum Ties Could be tied into lessons about LGBT issues, tolerance and prejudice.
Booktalking Ideas
1. Read the first chapter (before the flashback) and then do a plot summary of the rest.
2. Read an excerpt from chapter nine to hook people with descriptions of all-consuming first loves.
Challenge Issues
Please see "Controversy & LGBT Teen Collections"
Why did I include this book?
Booklist Reviewers’ Choice; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; ALA Best of the Best 1970-1983; considered a seminal piece of lesbian fiction, highly controversial, has been banned many times.