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Summary: "falling in love could be so wonderful...and so confusing."
Review: "Annie on My Mind" is one of the few gay/lesbian books I've ever read, and I was really impressed by it. It takes place in New York City, where two 17-year-old girls--Eliza "Liza" Winthrop (the protagonist) and Annie Kenyon--meet one day in a museum and pretty much fall in love at first sight, though their relationship starts out as "just friends". But, gradually, during their museum visits and medieval improvs, it develops into more--and, not surprisingly, there's a homophobic reaction to it, particularly at Liza's school (Foster Academy).Though "Annie on My Mind" is considered YA fiction, I'd recommend this book to adults as well, and not just lesbian/gay readers. I'm neither, yet I was quite moved by this story. Nancy Garden is a talented writer, and draws the reader right into Liza and Annie's world--their feelings, doubts, etc.--with such depth, it's hard not to be moved by this book. All around, this is a remarkable story worth checking out. Recommended.
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Summary: Great story of love and friendship
Review: This was one of the first books I read dealing with homosexuality. I was happy to find a great story that made the two main characters falling in love a natural and gradual thing.
What I absolutely love about this book is that it doesn't have these boring two-dimensional characters that just go through the motions of love; but you can feel the EMOTION of love between them. From the moment she meets Annie, Liza is fasinated by her. They quickly become friends and are having a great time together. Whenever Annie is with her, Liza's problems seem far away. When something happens to change thier friendship both girls are suprised. After housesetting for a teacher turns into something else, a whole world of troble awaits them both. Will Eliza be expelled from school? What will they tell their parents? Will things ever be the same again? In a heart-touching story that will leave you breathless you will learn to always trust true love.
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Summary: awesome
Review: this book is great. when i first read this book, i couldnt put it down. it was very touching and very true. i think this book would be great for young lesbians to read. this is a very very touching book
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Summary: Beautiful and real
Review: I am 16 years old. I read the reviews for this book and went right out the next week a bought it. I have to say if anything it was well worth it's price infact it seems a bit under priced not that i am complaining. My story is alot like annie and liza's story in a way My parents and some friends are very homophobic. My friends(the close 1's) were more understanding than i ever exspected them to be theyweren't suppose to know not all of them but some1 heard another girl ask me if i liked so & so and in a matter of 24 hours my home life was almost destoried! My little sister took it much worse than the charaters brother chad. Anyways the book is AMAZING it tells how they really feel and I could relate to it. I think most gay,lesbian or bi-sexual people(teens)can. Even if your straight I suggest you read this book. Definatly read it if you just want to try and understand. Any1 who's parents don't know. don't let them find out how mine did it was bad. Maybe try giving them this to read after you tell them. I also found alot of the characters in the story had reactions like people I knew. As I said it is Amazing i just finished it and plan on reading it over and over again! It shows how shy some people are about it at 1st but deep down you know it's there and how it always has been. It shows the pain alot of us have to go through just to be ourselfs. As 1 of the teachers said don't let the cruel reactions of people win...let love!
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Summary: Restrained, Tender Love Story
Review: Annie on My Mind is not hip. It is not the seminal (excuse me, ovarial) novel Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown. It is not the 1995 film "The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love." It is not a sexy, rollicking romp that takes us from the softball field into the bedroom. It is not a political/erotic expose of young New York lesbians. What Annie on My Mind is is a gentle love story told with restraint and tenderness by Nancy Garden. Liza and Annie are two 17-year-old New Yorkers who meet, become friends, and slowly realize that their feelings encompass more than friendship. They are confused, curious, tentative and intense with each other. They have no road map to guide their emotions and behavior, no understanding friends or adults to reassure them or to celebrate their relationship. Their love for each other feels so natural and good that neither is ashamed of the relationship, but they still keep it a secret from everyone in their lives. Many of us wish to find ourselves in literature, to have our own story reflected in the pages of the novels we read. When we do find such stories, the experience is so exciting and validating that we are willing to forgive any imperfections in the book. It's just so wonderful to discover kindred souls, and to find out that others have been through similar experiences. Such is the case with Annie on My Mind. It tells the story that many young LBQ (Lesbian, Bisexual, Questioning) women experience, and as such is the kind of "normalizing" of homosexuality that many teenagers can't get elsewhere. The imperfections are minor, but worth noting, particularly in today's irony-saturated media. While many young adult novels feature characters that are smart (and smart-aleck), socially savvy, blasé about sex and drugs, Liza and Annie are almost implausibly innocent and naïve. When the two girls initially meet by chance in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Annie is unselfconsciously singing to a painting in the American Wing. Soon after, they sword fight as imaginary knights in the Arms and Armor room, complete with "chivalrous insults." When the guard admonishes them, Annie explains, "The knights are so-so splendid! I've never seen them before-I got carried away." The guard actually says, "Harrumph!" Who talks like this? Liza almost gets expelled from her private school for not reporting another student who is offering cheap ear piercing at school. Hello, modern life? This kind of preciousness persists throughout the book, as Liza nicknames Annie "Unicorn," the private school students go door to door trying to raise money to save the school, and the total absence of any contemporary teenage culture. These teenagers listen to classical music and linger over Egyptian antiquities. The diversity and energy of New York is silent. And aside from the girl love, there isn't a whiff of controversy in Annie on My Mind. Both girls are feminine, with long hair. Neither is an athlete, outspoken feminist, or otherwise "butch." We know they make love, but it is not described. No older women "recruit" them, although they accidentally discover that two teachers at Liza's school have been romantically partnered for decades. These two dignified, private women serve as supportive, understanding adults who reassure Liza and Annie that their love for each other is just fine. But we don't mind these unhip details because the real point of this book is the relationship between Liza and Annie, how they dance around each other for months before the first tentative kiss, how they both fear and long for more than kissing and holding hands, how they learn to trust each other, and finally, how they learn to trust their love in the face of narrow-minded schoolmates, teachers and family.
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Summary: What a phenominal story
Review: After running search after search on the internet for books containing lesbian characters, I finally found Annie On My Mind. My goal was to find some sort of reassurance that I was not so strange and that there actually are people in the world like me. I figured the best way to do this was to see if books actually existed with lesbians as 'normal' main characters, and not simply obscure sex-starved sub-plot characters. Rather than finding a book with lesbian main characters, however, I found a love story about two girls. I wish now that I could force my parents, and anyone who has a problem with my sexuality, to read it because this book proves that being gay is not a bad thing. It is a great story that definatly comes with a moral: Love, no matter what type, is the only important part of any relationship.
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Summary: LOVELY , JUST LOVELY
Review: THIS BOOK BROUGHT LOVELY MEMORIES I THINK MOST GAY WOMAN HAVE EXPERIANCED . BUT EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT GAY IT DOSE TEACH TOLARANCE AND ACCEPTANCE WHICH IN ANY CASE IS WONDERFUL. NACY GARDEN COVERS THE WHOLE STORY WITH A SUBTELNESS AND DELICATE TOUCHES OF EROTISM.
I RECIMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE THAT CAN GET THEIR HANDS ON IT IT'S A LOVELY , LOVELY BOOK
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Summary: A Book About Love
Review: Annie on my Mind is the most beautiful love story I have ever read. This book is charming, honest and I recommend it to anyone, straight or homosexual. As I was reading the book, I kept thinking to myself, "I wish anyone who thinks homosexuality is immoral or disgusting would just read this. Maybe then they could understand that it is love." Annie on my Mind does not contain any erotic or sexual scenes, which makes this book a comfortable read for anyone who is not quite at ease with homosexuality.
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Summary: Grand Story!
Review: Annie On My Mind is one of the best books I have ever read, and the first centering around two lesbians, who didn't exactly start out that way. Eliza and Annie are so real in this book, and their story just draws you in. I picked it up one night and didn't put it down until I finished it late the next morning. Believe it or not I cried at the end, and I don't normally do that for books. This is a must-read, trust me. You can't waste money on this book. Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson were great additions to the story as well, they make me think of two of my own teachers. Every last character is this book is so real!
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Summary: Beautiful
Review: This is one of the most beautifully written and expressed stories that I have experienced in a long time. You can feel the intensity of the main characters' love for each other; you can feel all of their emotions. In the beginning of the story, there is an underlying thought that there is something deeper between Annie and Liza, the main characters. There is friendship but also a deeper emotion beneath the surface. As the story progresses, the love the two have for each other is unraveled and the way the feelings they both shared were expressed was incredible. The intensity of their love surges through anyone who reads this masterpiece, no matter what sexuality the reader posesses.
I read this story in a matter of hours and have read it countless times after. I smile through and through when Annie and Liza realize their love and become an "item". Their pain and hardship is also shown and shared with the reader wonderfully. This book really touches on not only the physical part of a relationship but the deep love that is shared. I recommend this to any and all readers.
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