YA Author: Nancy Garden

Nancy Garden is best known for her classic young adult lesbian romance, Annie on My Mind. She writes mainly young adult books in an attempt to deal with discrimination in a variety of topics. 

Annie on My Mind

She has won several awards including lifetime achievement awards for her work in writing young adult books, and most of her books appear on 'best of/recommended reading' book lists published by library organisations.


Lifetime awards

• Margaret A. Edwards Award (2003)
• Katahdin Award for Lifetime Achievement (2005)
• Induction into the Saints and Sinners Hall of Fame (2007)

She also received the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award for her attempts to fight censorship, and the legal fight to keep Annie on My Mind in school libraries in Kansas (in short, it was donated, burned, banned and reinstated).

The Year They
Burned the Books

The following titles all look at lesbian teenagers and fall squarely in the young adult genre.

• Annie on My Mind [Review and awards list]
• Good Moon Rising (Children's/Young Adult winner, 12th Lambda Literary Awards)
• The Year They Burned the Books (Children's/Young Adult finalist, 9th Lambda Literary Awards)
• Lark in the Morning (Children's/Young Adult finalist, 4th Lambda Literary Awards)
• Hear Us Out!: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present

Molly's Family

She's also written some books for younger children which look at family situations rather than coming of age (specifically a family with two lesbian mothers).

• Holly's Secret is a story for younger children about a girl with two lesbian mothers, and how she learns to accept that.  (Children's/Young Adult finalist, 13th Lambda Literary Awards)
• The Candlestone Inn Mysteries follow the adventures of a couple of kids from the Taylor-Michaelson family. 
• Molly's Family is a book for preschoolers, again about a girl with two mothers. It is illustrated by Sharon Wooding.

Nora and Liz

Most of her other books are also YA, but deal with different themes, with the exception of Nora and Liz, an adult lesbian romance.


 Nora and Liz was nominated for a Stonewall Award (2004) and was a Romance finalist in the 15th Lambda Literary Awards

She's very actively involved in helping teens, teaching and intellectual freedom, has two cats and a dog, and lives with her partner in Massachusetts. Her website has plenty of information about her and offers ways to contact her.


Further Reading

• Other introductions to lesbian authors
• A review of Annie on My Mind
• The Young Adult page
• All reviews tagged 'young adult'
• All award-winning lesbian young adult books