Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2007.
ISBN: 978-0-374-40011-8

Plot Summary

Liza Winthrop has her life all figured out. She’s going to finish her project on the Temple of Dendur, be a good student body president and, in a year, attend MIT’s architecture program. But then she meets the mysterious, magical Annie. Annie, naturally exuding childlike innocence, captivates responsible, staid Liza and soon their friendship blossoms into love. But the strength of her feelings for Annie frightens Liza who has never heard about homosexuality and knows her strict school would never approve. Inevitably, a schoolmate discovers the girls’ relationship and the principal threatens Liza with expulsion. With everything on the line Liza must either muster the courage to continue her relationship with Annie or give it up entirely.

Critical Evaluation

Annie on My Mind tells the story of two girls straddling the innocence of childhood and the gravity of adulthood. Although Liza and Annie are seventeen years old they are very much like children, especially Annie. Annie finds wonder in the everyday world whether she’s playing knights-in-shining-armor or marveling over a flower. Her childlike wonder is partly what draws Liza to her. Although Liza is the sheltered one, attending a school that makes a fuss over ear piercings, she is the one that is cognizant of life’s potential cruelty, particularly to those who do not grow up. In fact when Annie begins playing pretend Liza remarks, “Part of me wanted to join in…[b]ut the other part of me was stiff with embarrassment” (p. 11). But Liza soon flings caution to the wind as she becomes more and more enchanted with Annie’s innocence.

As the novel progresses, readers cannot help but root for Annie and Liza’s tender, vulnerable romance. Time and again, Garden includes details highlighting this vulnerability. For instance, when Annie and Liza have a misunderstanding over Annie’s school Liza cannot bear the awkwardness of the moment: “…[T]here we were sitting moodily on a cold bench saying ‘I’m sorry’ to each other for things we couldn’t help. Instead of being happy to see Annie, which I’d been at first, now I felt rotten, as if I’d said something so dumb the whole friendship was going to be over with when it had only just started,” (Garden, 2007, p. 73). And just as Liza and Annie are both neophytes at relationships so they are too at life. Both girls take delight in the simplest things—imagining their dream houses and playing pretend. As Annie so aptly puts it, “And here we are…Liza and Annie, suspended in between” (Garden, 2007, p. 78).

Of course, both reader and practical Liza alike realize this golden time cannot last forever. Once a classmate discovers Annie and Liza together in a bedroom the two girls must face a firestorm of criticism and intolerance. But, and perhaps this is the best feature of the novel, Garden refuses to abandon Liza and Annie in their hour of need. She doesn’t turn the girls into cynical, bitter characters who cannot move on with their lives. Instead she shoulders (and succeeds) in the difficult task of having the girls grow up. And it is the successful completion of this that perhaps makes this novel so great.

Annie on My Mind is a true masterpiece, reminiscent of novels of old such as Little Women and I Capture the Castle. Garden’s prose is romantic and bittersweet, the seasons reflecting the fate of Annie and Liza’s relationship. In fact, the novel is almost autumnal in nature as Liza reflects back upon the early days of her relationship with Annie. Needless to say, the details and tone are pitch perfect as Garden expertly crafts the characters of Annie and Liza, shaping them into figures that readers’ cannot help but love.

Reader’s Annotation

Liza believes her life to be right on track—she’s hoping to attend MIT to study architecture and is hard at work on her report on the Temple of Dendur. Then she meets wonderful, vibrant, ethereal Annie and her whole world changes.

About the Author

Nancy Garden always loved writing partially due to her parents’ love of stories. However, before she became a published author she had a variety of jobs including actor, office worker, teacher, and editor. She attained her undergraduate degree at Columbia University School of Dramatic Arts and later received her Master’s in Speech at Columbia Teachers’ College. She finally became a published author in 1971 with her fictional book What Happened in Marston and her nonfiction book Berlin: City Split in Two. She has won multiple awards for her activism work and novels including the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award, the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Katahdin Award for Lifetime Achievement, and induction into the Saints and Sinners Hall of Fame.

When not writing, Nancy Garden enjoys spending time with her partner Sandy and their pets—one dog and two very naughty cats. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, and reading.

Garden, N. (2011). About me. Retrieved from http://www.nancygarden.com/aboutme/

Genre

Bibliotherapy—coming out, Coming of Age, LGBTQ literature, Romance, School story

Tags

New York, private school, grandmother, Italian immigrants, lesbian relationship, coming out, younger brother, architecture, MET, singing

Curriculum Ties

Annie on My Mind would be an excellent book to use when discussing diversity or in a unit on descriptive writing and character development. It could also be used to discuss intellectual freedom and banned books.

Booktalk Ideas

--Discuss a hypothetical world in which people are not allowed to be together if they are different from the norm. Tie this discussion into Annie on My Mind.

Reading Level/Interest Age

Reading Level: 6^th grade

Interest Level: 8^th-12^th grade (13-18 yrs)

Reading level is according to AR BookFinder found at

http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=68034&l=EN&slid=189299476

Challenge Issues

Annie on My Mind positively depicts two teenagers who are in a lesbian relationship. As a result, there is a chance that this book may be challenged. In fact, it ranks number 44 on ALA’s Most Frequently Challenged Books from 1990-1999. If challenged, librarians should show statistics related to the number of LGBTQ people and explain that it is important to have literature that discusses these themes within the library. They should also point to curriculum ties and library collection policy.

ALA. 100 most frequently challenged books: 1990-1999. Retrieved from: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedbydecade/1990_1999/index.cfm

Why Was This Included?

I decided to include Annie on My Mind because I am currently working on a group presentation on LGBTQ literature. I also thought this was a good book to include as it is a foundational book in YA literature. I have seen Annie on My Mind on library and bookstore shelves for a long time but never picked it up partially because it felt so forbidden. I finally decided it was time for me to challenge that stigma and see what the book was all about.