LSSL 5385- ANNIE ON MY MIND review

Garden, N. (2013). Annie on my mind. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

This book is about two high school girls, Annie and Liza, who meet in a museum and have an instant connection. Confused by her feelings and unsure of what it means, Liza brings us through her journey of love, finding out who she is, understanding homosexuality, and coming out to her community. In the midst of this journey, she encounters conflicts that threaten her reputation at her private school, Foster Academy, as well as her dreams of attending MIT, and her beloved relationship with Annie. She also learns the struggles, and triumphs, of homosexuality through her teachers, Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson, who she comes to find out are living together as spouses. In the end, despite the separation that Annie and Liza find themselves in when they go to college, they end up back together and unashamed of their love.

The strength of this book is the imagery, mood, and tone that it provides. I really enjoyed the descriptive writing- I could see Annie and Liza meeting in the museum, I could feel the changing weather on my skin, and I experience the shame and fear that Liza felt as she navigates these new feelings.

Similar books to consider about LGBTQ topics are Am I blue? Coming out from the silence by Marion Dane Bauer, and novels by Sarah Waters such as Tipping the Velvet or Fingersmith. Annie on my Mind presents a great teaching opportunity to discuss banned books and teach lessons on challenges to materials as it was burned in front of the Kansas City School Board building in 1993 and banned from school library shelves. However, a group of high school students and their parents in Olathe, Kansas sued the school board in federal court, and ultimately got it back on shelves.