Representation
“When we talk about the books in a library, we call them a collection. But to a young reader—especially a teen reader—it’s really more of a representation.” 1
Image sourced from fastcompany.com.
In my last post, I introduced the topic of cultural inheritance in intergenerational queer communities. Here, I continue to develop this idea as it relates to queer YA literature, focusing on one of the main complications that arises through this model.
This complication is evident in Nancy Garden’s Annie on My Mind, a pivotal YA novel in its early positive representation of lesbian characters. Published in 1982, the narrative follows Liza as she meets and falls in love with the eponymous Annie.1 As a pivotal text, the novel seems to balance on diverse perspectives regarding homosexuality.
Yet, when Liza’s parents discover that she and Annie are romantically involved, her father tempers his reluctant acceptance of Annie’s sexuality with a warning of the future that now faces her: