Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden

A simple tale about a romance between two 17-year-olds who just happen to be girls. Liza and Annie, New York City girls, meet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Liza's there for the architecture, Annie's in a secluded upstairs gallery, singing. The two girls lead very different lives: Liza goes to a private school and leads a quiet and protected (almost anachronistic) life; Annie, the artier and more fragile one, is working class and goes to a rough public school.

But their attraction is instantaneous.

They become fast friends. And then it seems like they are more than friends. But what is this? Liza is completely blindsided as she realizes that she has romantic feelings for Annie. The other girl has felt this, in a milder form, before. An unforgettable story about awakening romance in a hostile environment.

Anyone who has ever been a teenager in love will be able to relate to this story. Written over twenty years ago, this book is a regular contender on many most-challenged lists.

Bibliotherapeutic value: The innocent tameness of tale and the girls' relationship -- with a plot structure that's simply girl meets girl -- makes the hit-list reputation of this book seem a little ridiculous. For any reader, it's a strong reminder of how slapping a label on something can suddenly make something explosive.

Garden, Nancy, Annie on My Mind. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1992.

ISBN: 0374404135. $8.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is a high school freshman, and he sees the world a little differently. As he begins his high school career, he is still getting over his best friend's suicide the year before. He feels things deeply, he sees things deeply, but he is a boy in a bubble, so sweet and childlike that he's almost not of this world -- but when he does cry, he just can't stop.

No wonder that Charlie is an outcast at school. Then, a group of unconventional seniors take him under their collective wing. Soon, he is learning about punk rock and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, finding out what it's like for his best friend, who is gay but has to keep his relationship completely secret. Charlie, too, has a secret.

A slim, fast, fantastic read, The Perks of Being a Wallflower's beauty is all in the narrator, a lost kid who sees way too much.

Teachers with struggling readers have used this one in the classroom, and I've been curious about it for a long time because of comparisons to this and A Catcher in the Rye.

Bibliotherapeutic value: The homosexuality in this book is treated with empathetic care; one the one hand, Charlie is completely accepting, giving a vision of a non-judgemental world. On the other, the culture of the school promotes sameness, making it necessary to hide what should be a pretty simple romance -- all kinds of pain is created by this situation. Then there's Charlie's shocking secret. The entire book pivots on the dysfunction that occurs when they are forbidden to express what should be expressed. A deep, brilliant little book.

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York: MTV, 1999. 


ISBN 0-671-02734-4. $12.

Love Is the Higher Law by David Levithan

The story begins as Claire, at school, realizes that something is terribly wrong. She watches the reactions of the people on the street; she tries to calm the elementary school kids as things get more and more chaotic. The Twin Towers fall.

The tale of three teenagers in New York City at the time of 9/11, Love is the Higher Law is part historical novel -- with brutal, realistic details -- and part gay love story. Two of the characters, Peter and Jasper, had met at a party before the tragedy hit. They had made a date for that night.

Peter is as devastated in his way as Claire is, but Jasper literally and figuratively sleeps through the whole thing. Completely shut off from the rest of the world, Jasper has developed an armor of steel. Not even 9/11 can break through his narcissistic self-absorption.

Will Claire stop her nocturnal wanderings and come back to life? Will Jasper ever feel anything?

This is a deep, brutal, but ultimately hopeful meditation about three teens facing a national disaster and its aftermath.

Occasionally, the conversations are a little long-winded, but the emotional fumbling between Peter and Jasper feels very real; the details of people's reactions are heart-wrenching. A slim, powerful book.

Kris Vreeland, the children's book expert at Vroman's bookstore, brought this one up in a book talk in '09. Really wanted to see how Levithan framed this event to hook young readers.

Bibliotherapeutic value:  Because this story is set in New York City, Peter is a gay character who is generally accepted and angst-free about his sexuality. Jasper, however, is Korean, and his parents are far more traditional. The book shows how the outside world can pressure and discriminate against GLBTQ people in subtle and soul-crushing ways.


Levithan, David. Love Is the Higher Law. New York: Knopf/Borzoi, 2009. 




ISBN: 978-0-375-93468-1. $18.99.

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Paul lives in a world where the cheerleaders gun Harleys at pep rallies, the quarterback is a drag queen, and Paul's own kindergarten teacher states on his progress report that he is gay. This high school sophomore's life is easy and angst-free until he meets Noah, the artsy new kid in town, who is completely crush-worthy.

Generally, it wouldn't be a problem, except there's Paul's angry ex, Kyle, who is suddenly reaching out to him; there's his depressed best friend Tony, whose religious parents refuse to accept that he's gay. And then there's his other best friend, Joni, who is swept up in a relationship with a difficult, controlling jock.

Suddenly, life's not so easy anymore. How can Paul connect with Noah when his life is a roiling mess. And, soon enough, he's asking himself if he'll ever truly connect with anyone.

With a main character who is completely comfortable with his homosexuality, Boy Meets Boy is a book about friendship, family, and romance.

Fanciful yet full of humorous day-to-day teen drama, this is a lighthearted book with serious issues at its core.

Bibliotherapeutic value:  Imagining a world in which gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people are accepted highlights the harsh realities (and unfairness) of what GLBTQ teens go through every day. This book creates a pleasant fantasy world in which everyone is accepted, no matter what. Boy Meets Boy is full of hope -- with a strong central character who is very self-assured -- and it's a reminder of how far we are from a world in which everyone is accepted.

Levithan, David. Boy Meets Boy. New York: Knopf/Borzoi, 2003.

ISBN 0-375-92400-0. $17.99.