Rating: 
Summary: Best book I've ever read
Review: This has to be the best book I've ever read. I found myself wanting to keep reading it, I couldn't put it down. As a young lesbian myself I could really relate to the book. *sigh* I want an Annie or Liza :( lol I suggest you buy the book if you don't already own it. You will definitely love it, as much as I did. :)
Rating:
Summary: Sweetest book I've ever read....
Review: This was the first young lesbian romance I ever read, and today, even though I'm 24, well past the age of Annie and Liza, it is still my favorite book. The feelings, the passion and gentleness, confusion and happiness, portrayed in this book are so true to what many young gay and lesbian people feel in real life. This book IS real life. Although the cliches of public vs. private schools (a girl getting in trouble for piercing ears seems somehow dated in the 2000's) and rich girl vs. poor girl don't ring as true now as they did the first time I read AoMM, overall this is a fantastic depiction of first lesbian love. I would recommend this book to anyone who is lesbian or gay, but most especially I would recommend this book to straight people who are struggling to understand why someone in their family or circle of friends is gay or lesbian. This book, though fiction, can be very helpful.
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Summary: my favorite romance
Review: I reread this book about every six months and every time find myself in love with Annie all over again and wish she really was in Berkeley CA. Some reviewers have commented on the preciousness of their world, ie the medieval tapestries, but in a world where sexuality is so blatantly discussed and assumed to the point of banality it is refreshing to see their absolute unhipness and total sexual innocence. I wouldn't mind more of that sort of deemphasis in our culture, although I remember when I first read this book as a freshman in high school I couldn't quite relate to their sexual naivete. But oh I love this book so much, and I have to remember not everyone grows up in San Francisco.....
Rating:
Summary: Most important read in my library
Review: Someone gave me this book when I was 17 and wondering who the heck I was. I read it in one sitting, flipped it over and read it again. Liza's story was very much my own story and her courage gave me the push I needed to break free of fear and live a fuller life. Some 17 years have passed since then and I still read this book at least once a year.Nancy Garden addresses her subject and characters with a deft eye and great affection. She respects the intelligence of her audience, neither talking down to them nor preaching. The story is written with great humor and sensitivity. Even the headmistress, the "villain" in the tale, is more balanced than one might expect. If I had a million dollars, I'd love to make a movie out of this book. I'd recommend this book for any teen, really, but it is especially poignant for young women, 12-17, who may be questioning. It is a loving story with a fair bit of romance without being graphic or otherwise inappropriate. I am ever so glad to have it in my collection.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful Book
Review: I just can't begin to tell you how much this book touched me in so many ways. i read it three times and all three times i felt as if i were there with the girls. and all three times the last chapter brought tiers to my eyes and they were Happy tiers the girls known all along that they loved each other and they beat the System. Thanks you Nancy Garden
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book for lesbian and straight teens
Review: My high school daughter is questioning her sexuality, and I was looking for teen fiction that explored the theme of lesbianism without being lurid and over the top. I read this book first before I gave it to her as a present. Her 16 year old opinion: the book was OK but a little lame. I believe she felt this way because she is reading on a more advanced level. But at least she read it and now knows that there are books about lesbian teens that have good outcomes and happy endings, and are not prurient, terribly sad, depressing, or too mature for teen readers. I recommend the book for teen girls, 13-16 years old. The characters are very well-drawn and the plot is what might happen to typical teens. The girls meet at various places in New York, an excellent setting for such a book, with its museums and parks. The book also explores the theme of financial classes--one girl is rather well off and goes to a private school while the other lives in a poor, dangerous part of the city and goes to a ghetto-type public school resembling a fortress or prison, yet has a happy home life with her extended family. This is a gentle, sweet book, and the author handles the story with taste and sensitivity. As another reader commented, the girls in this book are not stereotypes. They are normal high school girls. Lesbians come in all shapes and sizes, short hair, long hair, white, black and brown, wear all sorts of clothes, even preppy ones, with all sorts of customs, beliefs, talents and hobbies. Sexual orientation just IS. There are no judgments made by the author here, no punishments as part of the plot. The characters face challenges and get through the bad times to emerge with hope for the future. They have thought more about their sexuality and the meaning of life, and therefore seem on a more mature plane than the other high school girls. There are some very nice boy characters, too, who support the girls as friends and school mates, because of their characters and persnonalities, and not their sexual identity. I also enjoyed the two lesbian teacher characters at the rich girl's private school. They were well-drawn and shown to be normal everyday teachers who just happen to be lesbian. I have had such teachers who were much respected in our small town. We need more books like this that show lesbianism as a normal variation of sexual identity. Teen questioning, straight and lesbian girls will find that there are happy endings, and that life can be good, even when facing extraordinary challenges like society's homophobia and bigotry. Lesbian middle and high school girls should never, ever be ashamed of their feelings. This book shows girls following their feelings, learning to figure them out and trust them. Isn't that what we all do in sorting out who we are? Lesbian teens CAN have a happy life, so they should keep thinking about it and reading about it. They will eventually discover the sexual identity they were born with, and will, I hope, be able to live that truth. That is the challenge of anyone's life, and it is the theme of this book. Moms: read this book, too, and then discuss it with your daughter.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't like it...
Review: I don't think this is a BAD book and I dont disagree that many people could enjoy it a lot. Im trying to be fair so I gave it three... Good points - I could relate to this book better than I could relate to other les fiction like Rubyfruit Jungle because it focuses a lot more on sex than love... and this book focuses on love. The parts that were actually romantic were very very sweet Someone said it was bad that the characters both had long hair and they dont seem like actual lesbians... well I think its GOOD that they arent stereotypes and that they sharply contrast it. Are they supposed to cut off all their hair and dress like a boy just so they will be accepted by other lesbians? They obviously don't care about labels and stereotypes and care about being themselves. Bad points - it was so amazingly boring... I kept expecting it to pick up and get better but... I should have realized that when I had trouble keeping interested in the intro chapter that it wasn't gonna be a great book (for me) So on the one hand... it can be romantic... its different... etc... but... it bored me so much I couldn't get through it. Maybe if you have more patience for droning on then youll be able to get through this book. Obviously other reviewers were able to so maybe its just me!
Rating:
Summary: The best coming out book
Review: I bought this book about a year ago and just loved it. It's so sweet. and easy reading. Since i've bought it i've loan it to several of my friends and they have all enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: 'Wow' is all I can say
Review: The only way I can express my love for this book and its theme is to say that I feel like I'm Liza and the book is Annie. This book is about two girls who gradually discover that they are homosexual and that they feel a powerful love for each other. Their happy lives with each other are shattered when their homosexuality is discovered, but they learn to love each other again by the end. One thing about this book that I liked almost as much as the story itself was the front cover. I felt that it was a symbol for what was to come. This book is beautifully written and is a real treat for anyone like me who loves a good romance. Please, read this book and scream, just like I did, because I loved it so much.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful love story... hauntingly realistic.
Review: This is the story of a budding romance between two seventeen year old girls - about their insecurities with their homosexuality and their insecurities with love in general. This book rates as "children's", but i found it to be written on a very mature level (i am 20-somthing, definately not a child). It is one of those wonderfully happy-sad stories that makes you remember your own lovers and the issues that tried to keep you apart, but drove you even closer together. This book is well written and an over-all beautiful love story. I highly recommend this book to young women, and experienced women as well.
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