A LGBT love story rife with stereotypes

Garden, N. (1982). Annie on my mind. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux. Annie on My Mind tells the story of two young women, who meet by chance but develop of friendship that soon leads to a romantic relationship. Liza, a high-achieving senior at a private day school in Brooklyn Heights meets Annie, a girl from a poor immigrant family who has never felt like she has belonged anywhere.

The novel gets points for being a groundbreaking LGBT young adult title when it was published in 1982, which just happened to be the year I graduated high school as well. But both of the main characters are cookie cutter caricatures of 17 year old girls, straight or otherwise. Their first 'date' includes a picnic with coffee and both are wearing skirts. It seems more like the 50's rather than the 80's. The other characters also are merely 2 dimensional stereotypes. The only character who surprised me was Annie's father, who is unexpectedly supportive of Liza when she and Annie are discovered in a compromising situation.

Liza's character does move toward redemption as she eventually begins to fully accept her love for Annie, which leads to a hopeful, if overly sentimental ending.