Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden: Book Review (School Edition)!



Hello, everyone! I'm back and I'm reviewing Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden that I read for my Children's Lit class. Now, I know what you're thinking. It's mid December. There's no way I should be in school. You are correct. I'm on my winter break, but I was not able to continuously post book reviews that dealt with school. So, I've still got my books from school, and I thought I would pepper them in with all of the "fun" reviews. Those are coming up very soon. But, please read and enjoy this review of one of the books I read this past semester.

Annie on My Mind has been known to be a bit controversial, especially considering that it's a children's novel. That is because of the sexual exploration that the lead character Liza takes, ultimately realizing that she is gay. She meets Annie at a museum and the novel just sort of takes off from there. From that point, Liza deals with her sexuality silently until she is literally caught in the act. Then she has to deal with judgmental peers, overly righteous teachers, and parents who prefer to live in denial. She does eventually come to terms with her sexuality, but not without a cost.

I would definitely recommend for everyone to read this book. Not even for the fact that its easy to read and Googling this book would just do you a disservice, it's that this book reminded me why I love being an English major. Words are powerful. This book is powerful. I'm straight, and I'll probably never have to face this particular situation. But to be able to see the different reactions that these characters have to a girl that they've known for years will break your heart. There is every reaction from fear to anger, and even Liza is feeling all of these things about herself. I won't get on my soapbox, because this is a review. But I hope that more people give this book a shot. It may change your perspective. It may not, but it's important for you to experience this book as a whole rather than some inadequate summary on Wikipedia. I have to give this book a four and a half pieces of abstract art out of five.



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