Annie on My Mind

Annie on My Mind is the story of two young teenagers, Annie and Liza, that meet at the  Metropolitan Museum in New York. They instantly become close friends; eventually, they fall in love.  Their backgrounds cannot be more different. Liza lives in a wealthy neighborhood, is the student council president at a private school, and dreams of going to M.I.T. On the other hand, Annie comes from an immigrant family who struggles in this foreign land. These two different worlds are unified by love and their socioeconomic situations become meaningless.  

Annie and Liza live through different experiences that lead them to accept and embrace their sexuality. In one instance, two of Liza’s teachers are needing help watching over their home and their cats. Liza volunteers to help them and invites Annie over. They spend time together and they find out that the teachers are lesbians by looking at their hidden book collection. They found titles such as Female Homosexuality, Sappho Was a Right-On Woman, Patience and Sarah, and The Well of Loneliness.  The girls feel motivated to express their love and decide that their relationship will not be hidden like the teacher’s books. Liza’s school finds out, they ask her to go before the board, and fire the teachers. Of course, her education is not connected to her sexual orientation. Therefore, she is allowed to remain a student and to be head of the student council. But, she feels terrible about her teachers losing their job. They reassure her that it is not her fault. And, that everything is fine as long as they remain together. Ms. Weidmer and Ms. Stevenson remind Liza that truth makes one free. After the girls move away from each other, they realize the teachers were right, and Annie and Liza rekindle their love.            

In an interview conducted by Kathleen T. Horning, Nancy Garden talks about the struggles she faced as a lesbian. Her own life and a book, The Well of Loneliness, inspired her to write Annie on My Mind. She also wrote Hear Us Out Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, Prisoner of Vampires, What Happened in Marston, The Loners, Vampires, Werewolves, Meeting Melanie, Endgame, and many others.  

Annie on My Mind is an excellent book to use in reading class. By doing a character analysis, students can see how Annie and Liz evolve and accept who they really are. Also, to practice their writing skills, students can choose a character of the book and write him a letter. For example, they can write a letter to teachers who got fired showing them their support. Or, they can write a letter to Ms. Baxter, and try to convince her to be more accepting of gays.

If you would like to know more about the struggles and challenges gays face, you may be interested in reading Am I Blue?: Coming Out from the Silence. It is a book written by numerous authors that discuss growing up gay or with gay parents. You might also enjoy grl2grl by Julie Anne Peters. Peters discusses the lives of young girls who are discovering their sexuality and lesbianism.

                                                                                                                 

 Garden, N. (1982). Annie on my mind. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.   

Books similar to Annie on My Mind. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2018, from https://www.goodreads.com/book/similar/274128-annie-on-my-mind