Deliver Us from Evie

Rating:
Summary: A Good Starting Place..
Review: After reading some of the reviews, I feel I have to defend one of my favorite books, so here it goes:

"Deliver Us From Evie" is one of the first lesbian novels that I've read and enjoyed. I liked Evie as a character and found her intriguing. Though I wish that the book was through her point of view instead of her brother's, I feel that looking at homosexuality through the eyes of an onlooker is a good start for people curious or interested in learning about homosexuality, but not ready to read about it first hand. From this book, I moved on to more in depth books such as, 'Annie on My Mind' and 'Good Moon Rising',but I still look back at 'Deliver Us From Evie' as one of my favorites.

P.S. For those who protest Evie being too masculine, well as Evie herself said, some of them DO look it.

Rating:
Summary: Looks can be decieving!
Review: Deliver us from Evie is a coming out of the closet book for teens. The book is about Evie Burrman and it is told through the eyes of her younger brother Parr. The Burrman family live on a farm typical of that area in Missouri. Evie has always been a unique girl. Out of the three children she was the one who knew how to fix many of the mechanic things though she was the girl. She dressed like a man and was a loner. Her parents especially her mother knew she was different but tried to change her. The mother thought that inviting over Cord (a boy who liked her) trying to get her to dress more womanly would change her. Everything comes full circle when the banker's daughter started befriended Evie. Parr from his narration conveys the feelings of the family especially how the mom and dad knew this was no ordinary girlfriend friendship. Parr discusses what happens when the relationship becomes known and how he and the family deal with the neighbors when rumors begin to flow. The book not only touches on Evie situation but Doug (the oldest son) going off to college and eventually deciding not taking up a life on the farm and Parr wrestling with guilt of not wanting the farm life and his coming of age with a relationship with a young lady name Angel. I think it is a great book for teens who may also be going through feelings like Evie or not sure of how they feel.


Rating:
Summary: Well told
Review: Deliver Us From Evie, while well told, was not easy to keep my mind on while I attemted to read, and several times I found my attention wandering. It is slightly off-center, in that the title-foretold Evie and her sexual orientation take a place slightly left of the center to Parr, the narrarator and Evie's younger brother. This is not truly a problem, as it can be pleasant to find books in which a gay character's sexuality is not the focal point, but comes into play as with heterosexual characters; I just wish that such had not been so trumpeted as the main theme. In addition, the story is told in an if not emotionless, than less emotional and drier way. Still, I found that Deliver Us From Evie achieved excellence in the antistereotype department as it presented readers with one lesbian as a typical "butch" and another, a "girly-girl" prep. It would likely please a person who possesses the ability to concentrate even when a story doesn't progress at the fastest pace, but is well-written and can encourage the reader to think, and a person who isn't looking for a dramatic gay coming-out tale, else they would be sorely dissapointed.

Rating:
Summary: Deliver Us From Evie=amazing
Review: I just finished this book about two weeks ago. I thought it was amazing. It had a great theme. I loved it. It is one of my favorite books along with Cut by Patricia McCormick. M.E. Kerr is an amazing author. We had to read Gentlehands in school a few years ago, i loved it, so I decided to search through her books. Anyway, it deserves five stars, it's a great book!

Rating:
Summary: My Opinion
Review: I teach at-risk high school students and I have purchased this book for my classroom library. I appreciate that it teaches tolerance in a way that is appropriate for the classrom. My high school students have enjoyed this book!

Rating:
Summary: A Change In Attitudes
Review: This is the first book that I have ever read about a lesbian girl, Evie, and how her family has to deal with the comments and accusations, and haste rejections from their friends and neighbors. The story is told through Parr, Evie's brother, eyes and with every word, it almost seems that Evie is your sister, and Doug is your brother, and that you live on a farm. The fact that this story is told through Parr's perspective gives insight on what life was like for Evie. This book made me see the cruelness of people who you thought that you could rely on when it comes to homosexuality. With many books that focus around the male gay, this book showed just the opposite. Evie was portrayed as almost a rebel and a person that you would respect. This book has opened up doors for me into a whole new world of reading and I hope that others will read Deliver Us From Evie as an insight into something new. I hope to read more books that have characters just like Evie and Parr, put I know that Deliver Us From Evie will always be the best one.

Rating:
Summary: Evie
Review: While the title would imply that this novel was about Evie, it really is about Parr, a young man struggling with his desire to get off the farm, have a girlfriend and deal with his family. Evie is really a secondary character, and one that is pretty one-dimensional. Evie and her girlfriend fall into the butch femme stereotype and never grow past it. As far as being an accurate portrayal of what it is like to be gay in a small town, I don't think so. Both sets of parents took the affair between the girls pretty mildly and seemed to give up protesting all together when they "proved" they really wanted to be together.
If you are looking for a good, realistic depiction of lesbian relationships, read something else.