Annie on My Mind

Annie on My Mind is the quintessential story of two young women exploring love for the first time. It is the reminiscience of Liza, now a freshman in college, about her relationship to Annie during the previous year. First published in 1982, the story aided the cultural validation of lesbian love. Thsi 25th edition includes an interview with the author which complements the story. Annie on My Mind is included on school reading lists, and usually cannot be found on the library's shelves. What readers will find is not a 'butch/macho/lesbian' scenario, but a tender story of two persons innocently adn naively exploring their natural inclinations towrds first love. The heart of the story is taht their love becomes an enduring love, a reare feat. Readers, bi-curious or straight, young or old, hunger to learn the signs and progression of true love, as outlined in this story. This (along with good writing) is what keeps this book in print.

I was hesitant at first to read what is essentially a young adult book, but the story told in Annie on My Mind captivated me. Nancy Garden tells the story of Annie and Liza, two seniors in high school, from different worlds and different socio-economic backgrounds.

The two girls meet by chance and develop a friendship that evolves into something more intense and intimate. They fall in love with each other.

What Garden does in this book, and more successfully in her follow-up Good Moon Rising, is she allows the story to be about two people meeting, getting to know each other and having that first experience with love. Though at times, the novel addresses the challenges of lesbian love, and coming out, Garden manages to keep the story on track as a story of first love.

I imagine Annie and Liza could be any two teenagers, trying to find their way in the world and finding each other in the process.

A book of two young lovers. Trying to get through people saying rude comments, and the school suspending or even expelling Eliza. These girls go through many hard things that happen with many teen lovers and many homosexual lovers. They are very strong women that believe in love, trying to stay together and not living close together.

The book will amaze you as it did me. It was something I was interested in, not so much drama as in other books but it made it clear to me that they did have some problems and it will send an effect to many readers by showing them that homosexuals do have problems too. The book should have had more to the ending but you will love the way it ends and you'll hate the fact that you have finished reading it.

Eliza is off to college now and wants to reconnect with Annie but doesn't know how to writs a letter. When she does, she always throws it away. So she brings up all of the good and hard times they have had together. The first time they saw each other in the museum. The times they spent together and always caring for each other, until the day they realize that they do like each other. Annie has thought about the fact that she may be gay, because she was never attracted to many guys. Eliza on the other hand has never thought that she could be a lesbian. Until the first kiss that she keeps thinking about, and having Annie on her mind all the time.

Will Eliza reconnect with Annie or will she have to sit in her dorm thinking of what she let leave?

Published in 1982, Annie on My Mind remains one of the most censored and controversial teen novels, but it is, even after twenty years, remarkable for two reasons: its emphasis on the healing (even redemptive) power of love and its departure from young adult books that, as Michael Cart has observed, subscribed to "the idea that to be homosexual is to be doomed, either to a premature death or to a life of despair at the darkest margins of society." (Booklist Youth, v. 95)
Annie On My Mind tells the story of two young women, each with loving families but outsiders at their respective schools, who meet at a museum in New York, quickly becoming friends and, later, lovers. The book is told from the perspective of Liza, a student at a private high school governed by an authoritarian principal. When Liza and Annie get caught making love in the house of two lesbian teachers, not just their lives but others' are irrevocably changed.
The book is certainly dated (it reminds me of books like The Cat Ate My Gymsuit and others of the same general era) and flat in places, and some aspects are painted with rather broad strokes - without much attention to the complexities of class and ethnicity, for example. But it is a moving and honest invocation of teenaged angst, one that captures the tentativeness of new love.
One strength is that the book offers a sympathetic portrayal of the various characters. They are, in the end, human - flawed, ambiguous, cautious. There is no one villain; most of the characters are well-meaning, if painfully awkward.
Overall, even after two decades, the book still stands as a sensitive portrayal of the naturalness of young love and one young woman's emerging understanding that the private is, if not political, then politicized.

This was a fun, short audiobook. The characters are fully-developed and deal with the basic sense of guilt and confusion that any LGBT+ youth deals with. The audiobook also contained a (reading of) an interview with the author, who gives her thoughts on the books controversial reception in conservative circles over the years. More modern 'gay teen lit' tends to be more complicated (e.g. Will Grayson, Will Grayson). This was a light-hearted love story with a happy ending!

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.

I found this book because it was proclaimed a ground breaking book for homosexuality in teen. It interested me to read such a novel, and I have confidence that one day this book will be a classic.
It had that classic feel to a kind of outdated novel. The same you can feel from reading any "teen" novel that was written at least a decade before one's time as a teen themselves. It's a good feeling in a novel, a feels a tad historic.
Annie is adorable. She has a puffy fun personality, yet stays grounded and very real. I too, would fall in love with her. Liza is an a-typical trying to find herself girl. Yet, her adventure of finding herself and knowing what she wants is very heart warming.
The story was bliss but the true conflict does not come until the end. It is very frustrating once this comes about. Multiple times I wanted to throw the book across the room during this part. However, before that is absolutely lovely. I dreamed of living in the world that Annie and Liza created.
The setting was also enjoyable. Any book that takes place in New York City makes me smile. The two are constants at museums which I enjoyed as well. However, Liza's school, Foster, is absolutely dreadful. When they described it as being in an old housing building, I pictured my middle school. So the whole time, I pictured it as a very dingy place. Plus, her headmistress, Mrs. Pointdexter, is absolutely obnoxious.
Overall, I loved this book. It's heartwarming and bubbly, yet complete dishearting. But that gives it the opportunity to open eyes just as I'm sure the novel was written to do. Everybody should read this novel. The conservatives, the liberals, the young, and the old. This is a must read.

My school psychologist managed to find me a copy of Annie on my Mind after I told him that I was desparately searching for books that dealt with gay teens coming to age. I found, to my delight, that this book was different than any other that I had read. It told what it was actually like for two girls to fall in love. When you are a teen and in the closet like I am, books like these are treasured. Don't mistake Annie for a gay book, however. It is much more than that. It is a beautifully crafted love story that makes its message known without being preachy. It puts faces and names on people that some would have remain nameless. Everyone should read it and remember its messages- the most touching one being: "Know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Cats, saucepan helmets, unicorns, and rings...what a fabulous way to convey a love story! Annie On My Mind must be one of the best books I have ever read, and I have read quite a few. I picked up this quaint little paperback out of curiosity, feeling I was "open-minded" enough to handle such a topic. The content not only helped me to realize that gays and lesbians share a justified love, but that I myself should not limit the possibilites of finding a soulmate to just one gender. I highly recommend this book to everyone: gays, lesbians, homophobics, or anyone wishing to be electrified by a beautiful love story

"Annie on my Mind" was just another reading assignment for me except it was about what I thought was a "completely perverted subject." With that opinion chiseled into my brain I read into the first eight chapters with blinders on. Then a break through occered, during my next sitting I found the book emensely powerful. Why had I given gays that label? Perhaps it was my everyday situation and the way people I socialized with thought of it.
Thank you very much Miss Garden for giving me an open mind. Please continue writing so that many others may "take off their blinders."

This story is something unlike any other book I've ever read. It's warm, romantic, emotional, heartbreaking and true to the soul. Two girls who love each other so much are denied to show their love in public and when discovered are forced to face the consequences of love that isn't the norm for people. What Annie on My Mind does is simply take a love so great, so wonderful, and offer it up to the reader...then they add the opinion of those afraid of two girls in love and what the outcome brings. You will fall in love with Annie, Liza, this whole book, and that I can guarantee!

I first read this book over the summer between 8th and 9th grade. That was four years ago. At that time, I was struggling with my sexuality. I immediately fell in love with this book and I read it over and over. The experiences between Annie and Liza in the early stages of their romance were exactly what I had been dreaming about. For those of you who have not read this book, it is told alternately third-person limited and first-person, as a retrospective journey through the senior year of a young girl. Eliza, or Liza, is a thoughtful, outgoing girl who meets Annie, an introspective thinker in a museum. Through a series of events, they realize their mutual attraction, following a kiss on the beach. Their romance is mired by cover-ups and secrets, but, as they profess their love for one another in central park, they know they'll try to make it work. When Eliza has the opportunity to house-sit for two of her teachers, she invites Annie along. What follows is a story of injustice, close-mindedness, and the desire to "Know the truth and the truth will set you free". This book has inspired me to seek the truth, and it has been an experience I will not soon forget. I recommend this book to everyone and anyone. You cannot leave your teens without having read this book. and i

An unabashedly tender and romantic love story, with two witty and engaging protagonists. Naturally, the characters must go through the requisite problems that young, gay couples face- confusion, discrimination, lack of social acceptance- but the author never becomes "preachy" or drowns the book with assumptions about the moral nature of homosexuality. Instead, the emphasis is on the value of the love itself.A truly lovely story.

A beautiful, romantic story of forbidden first love between two young women in New York City. Liza, a student council president of a private school, meets Annie--a spunky, weird, artistic daughter of Italian immigrants. The two girls soon discover that they are very much in love and must deal with both their own feelings and perceptions, but also those of their friends and family. A very beautiful love story. Grade: A

When I was fourteen and realizing that the boys in my high school didn't do anything for me, there were no books like 'Annie On My Mind' to tell me it was all right. The first time I found this book I was already twenty-one: I read it five times within the week. A beautiful, painfully honest story, it should be required reading for everyone who questions someone else's love: love doesn't care about gender or colour or religion. Love just is.

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.....

After twenty-five years, Annie on my Mind remains a classic. It is both a love story and a coming out story that focuses on the growing attraction between two New York teenagers. Set in 1982, the book explores the developing relationship between Liza and Annie at a time when homosexuality was greatly stigmatized. While at a museum, Liza notices Annie, who manages to capture her attention in a way she doesn't quite understand. Much of the chemistry between the two characters is built around their sense of isolation and self-discovery in one another. Even though both come from loving families, neither one seems to "fit in" socially. Nancy Garden manages to pull off the relationship convincingly while avoiding gay stereotypes. I would recommend this book to open-minded readers who prefer a good love story with a happy ending.

A quick, easy, and enjoyable read.

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.

I read this book in college (hiding it because it was 'Gay' & worse because it was a 'Teen' book).
This book lifted my spirits & broke my heart. And yet some times when I drive through NYC, I wish that these two girls, now woman, could be real and living together. A wonderful book, wonderfuly written

Did you begin to experience your attraction to other females at an early age? Did you find those sexual vibrations, along with the verbal intimacy you experienced with female, irresistible? I did, I was there and "Annie on my Mind" brought me back to some of those incredible feelings of first love. It is a well-written and very believable story. We more need literature, such as this, which validates our own experience and which we can recommend to young women who are first learning about their sexual attractions to others of their own gender. Although this book is written for young women, I feel sure you will find it just as enjoyable as I did.

Everyone should read this book if for no other reason than the fact that it is considered the young lesbian staple book. It's aimed towards younger readers, I'd say 16 years or younger, but don't let that stop you from reading it if you're older. It delves into complex emotions in a simplistic, refreshing way, which is nice when you're not as familiar with gay books. Definitely a beginner's book to lesbian love.

This book was the first book that ever seemed just plain right to me. Every day it seems I think back to this book, even though I read it two years ago. That was when I was thirteen. Even now it makes sense and comforts me every time I think of it. I got my mom to read it once, she didn't get it the way that I did. But I shouldn't think she would. That is all I can say about this book because the rest is just indescribable. You have to read it to understand it, you can't just hear about it you have to read it. SO READ IT ALREADY!

God, I love this book!!!! Nancy Garden truly knows what she is talking about when she brings you along on the wonderful story of Annie and Liza. Inspirational and equally rememberable, this story will stay in your heart forever. It really shows the true fear and results of the fear of homophobia. And even though the characters may tumble through hard and difficult times throughout the plot, nothing can equal how they must feel for eachother. A great insight on how love can withstand even the hardest of times.

Great love story. She is insanely in love with this girl, it almost amazed me how much in depth this love story is told.. beyond a physical attraction and definately not lust. Sometimes us lesbians can forget to love eachother, deeply.

Will definately be reading this again.

This book is a must read regardless of your sexual oreintation. I promise once you start reading ths book you wont want to put it down for any reason and no matter how many times you read it you'll still want to read it again. i must have checked this book out 6 or 7 times and every time i read it, it seems as though it was my first. Definetly it is one of the most beautiful love stories between two girls and is appropriate for most children over the age of 11. I encourage you to but this book or at least check it out at your local library

I just finished reading this book for an adolescent literature class I am taking at college. I could not put this book down! Garden does a wonderful job of examining the emotions of Liza. She writes with such honesty, and the reader connects with the characters. I wished that she dealt more with the issue surrounding the dismissal of the two teachers; Garden portrays them as being resigned to the fact they lost their jobs. I wanted them to fight back! I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great story!

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.

You can almost feel the confusion and love between the two main characters. Liza who is in love with Annie has problems dealing with it and I almost cried when she finally admitted how she (Liza) truly felt for Annie.

My preconceieved ideas about gay people made this book a hard read at first, but while I was reading the story, I forgot that it was a girl talking about her lesbian realtionship with another girl. So strong are the feelings of love between these two people. I have a different view about people in general. If a person loves another person, the feelings are just like those that we feel for our spouses of the opposite sex. This book will mirror the life of many of our confused young adults. Perhaps it will allow them to see that they are not "weird" but different, and that they are not the only gay people in the world. Perhaps it will help them see that they are not "gay". It is definitely not a book that will turn someone gay if they read it. It is just not a "read" that is appropriate for every young adult. I would not encourage a young adult to read it unless they insisted that they were looking for that particular book. AC.

This is my all time favorite "lesbian" love story. I first read this book when I was around 15 years old. In the past 6 years since I first read it I have read it many more. I would recomend this book to anyone who is in their young teens and stuggling with their sexuality or for anyone who cares about someone who is going through the struggle or has recently come out of the closet.

I really enjoyed reading this book.This book was about two young girls who fall in love. But extremely hurts everyone around them. No one can face the actual truth. You'll find yourself wanting to have love like them, as it was for me. Then you'll find yourself crying of how mean peaople can actually be. I recommend this book to anyone who's bisexual, straight, gay, lesbian...anything. This book really teaches you to understand.

I have never read a book about lesbians before this one. I am addicted now.
The writing was excellent and I never wanted to stop. I'm always on the look
out for more books that are as well written as this.

Yes i finally finished this book. It was very emotionally packed (in my opinion. but i tend to read more into things), which may be why it took me a while. But the story was very sweet, and i can see why it was highly acclaimed at the time it was released. It isn't a thriller or paranormal or erotic. Just a sweet coming of age story. And of course some acknowledgement of difficulty faced, socially, during that time.

What a wonderful book. Nancy Garden not only writes so that you feel as if you are there experiencing every emotion but she is right on target with the typical lesibian hardships. I read this book in two days and the residual effect lasted two weeks.