Nancy Garden (1938–2014)
Author of Annie on My Mind
About the Author
Nancy Garden was born in Boston, Massachusetts on May 15, 1938. She attended Columbia University School of Dramatic Arts, which lead to work in community theater and four seasons of professional summer stock. She received a master's degree in speech from Columbia Teachers College. She taught for a show more while and then became an editor. Her first two books, What Happened in Marston and a nonfiction book entitled Berlin: City Split in Two, were published in 1971. Her other works include Molly's Family, Endgame, and Annie on My Mind. She received numerous awards including the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing books for young adults in 2003, the Katahdin Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005, and the Lee Lynch Classic Award from the Golden Crown Literary Society in 2014. She also received the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award in 2001 for her work defending Annie On My Mind from an attempt to ban it from libraries in a Kansas school district, and for her anti-censorship efforts in general. She died of a massive heart attack on June 23, 2014 at the age of 76. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Works by Nancy Garden
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Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Garden, Antoinette Elisabeth (birthname)
- Birthdate
- 1938-05-15
- Date of death
- 2014-06-23
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Place of death
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
Massachusetts, USA
Maine, USA
Rhode Island, USA - Education
- Columbia University, School of Dramatic Arts
Columbia Teachers College - Awards and honors
- Margaret A. Edwards Award (2003)
Lambda Literary Award
Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award
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Reviews
Lists
Florida (1)
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 40
- Also by
- 3
- Members
- 3,618
- Popularity
- #6,997
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 143
- ISBNs
- 108
- Languages
- 6
- Favorited
- 8
The scene where their secret relationship is discovered is like a punch in the stomach. But the morality isn't totally clear cut, and Annie and Liza struggle to keep their guilt about things that are legitimately their fault disentangled from the things that their society is guilty for and from the guilt one feels about being gay.
The ending could have felt rushed, but it didn't to me. I was as delighted as they were. I would protest about how it's their first relationship and those usually don't last forever, but in the interview with Nancy Gardner in the back, she explains that she married her high school girlfriend, so it's understandable!
One thing that did bother me all out of proportion to how prominent it was was an extended metaphor towards the end with white=good, pure and black=evil, twisted. Made me think of the MLK speech.… (more)