First published in the 1980's, Annie on My Mind is a little-known gem of a novel. This sweet, coming-of-age book tells the story of Liza and Annie, two young women in their senior years of high school. Liza is a well-to-do perfectionist at a prestigious but struggling private school; Annie is the poor child of Italian immigrants who hopes to become a singer. When the two meet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they form a fast friendship. As they spend more and more time together, their friendship blossoms into a love. The two characters grapple with how their newfound romance will affect their lives. Should they tell their parents? What if someone from their schools finds out? What does it mean to be a young lesbian in the 1980's? Liza and Annie struggle with these questions as they fall more and more hopelessly in love. All too relatable and bittersweet, Annie on My Mind is a charming young adult novel sure to capture the heart of any young LGBT teen.
This groundbreaking book, first published in 1982, is the story of two teenage girls whose friendship blossoms into love and who, despite pressures from family and school that threaten their relationship, promise to be true to each other and their feelings. From the moment Liza Winthrop meets Annie Kenyon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she knows there is something special between them. But Liza never knew falling in love could be so wonderful . . . or so confusing.Of the author and the book, the Margaret A. Edwards Award committee said, "Nancy Garden has the distinction of being the first author for young adults to create a lesbian love story with a positive ending. Using a fluid, readable style, Garden opens a window through which readers can find courage to be true to themselves."The 25th Anniversary Edition features a full-length interview with the author by Kathleen T. Horning, Director of the Cooperative Children's Book Center. Ms. Garden answers such revealing questions as how she knew she was gay, why she wrote the book, censorship, and the book's impact on readers - then and now."No single work has done more for young adult LGBT fiction than this classic about two teenage girls who fall in love." --School Library Journal