Annie on My Mind - Nancy Garden

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AUTHOR: Nancy Garden

GENRE: LGBTQ, Historical Drama.
RATING: 4.25 Stars.

At its heart, this is just a love story. A simple, heartfelt, emotional love story of a couple that faces hurdles and tries to overcome them.

How is the book different from the umpteen other romance novels in the market?

Well, the couple in love – Liza and Annie – happen to be young and female. Also, ‘Annie on my Mind’ happens to be one of the first queer fiction books where the gay characters were main characters, both survive till the end and stay homosexual till the end!

Seventeen year old Liza and Annie meet, they become friends, and then realise that their feelings go much deeper. Despite pressure from school and family, they know their relationship is meant to be.

Both Liza and Annie are high schoolers, and their voices are written so authentically that you’ll forget the author was in her forties when she wrote this. Every single one of their feelings comes out strongly, right from confusion over sexual orientation to falling in love to anger over others’ reactions. They have fun with each other, they fight with each other, they worry about each other – it’s a genuine portrayal of a young relationship. With the benefit of hindsight of being a reader in 2022, you can't help but wonder at what will happen to these two beautiful souls. To see them journey through the paths of prejudice and trying their best to overcome the hurdles stacked against them is a moving experience.

This was first published in 1982, so some of the content is obviously going to feel dated and predictable today. What is surprising is how much of the content still feels contemporary even forty years down the line. The message it puts across is still highly relevant. It shatters all stereotypes that conservatives might have about homosexuality, lesbians in particular.

If only modern YA authors take a cue from this book! This is how YA romance should be written. Not sparks or thunder at first sight. Not gushing loins or heaving bosoms. A true soul-to-soul connection that delivers on romance without going into elaborate physical details.

My copy of the book (published in 2007, on the 25th anniversary of the book) includes an interview with the author, and this turned out to be the perfect addition to the book. The author spoke of her own experience growing up and coming out as a lesbian in 1950s USA. It’s no wonder she was able to portray Liza’s and Annie’s struggles so effectively in the book.

You want a further reason to read it? The book has been banned from many school libraries and publicly burned in Kansas City. What better way to challenge the status quo than to make a grab at a banned novel!

The book is iconic for a reason. If you want a beautiful teen love story where the romance is appealing and the struggles are real, do try.

One favourite quote:
“Don't punish yourselves for people's ignorant reactions to what we all are. Don't let ignorance win. Let love.”

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