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Mechanics' Institute

Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection

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Cover of Annie on My Mind.

Cover image from Open Library.

Image source

Annie on My Mind

Creator

Nancy Garden

Date

First published 1982; local catalog records 1984

Format

Book

A young adult lesbian love story with a major public record in school-library access and censorship history.

Lesbian young adult literaturePositive endingOlathe caseBook challengesSchool library access
Contact About AccessBack to catalog

Overview

Annie on My Mind is Nancy Garden's young adult novel about Liza and Annie, first published in 1982, with the local catalog recording a 1984 edition. It extends the collection beyond picture books into adolescent self-recognition, romance, school authority, and library access. ALA's Edwards Award materials describe Garden's importance in creating a lesbian love story for young adults with a positive ending, while the Olathe federal case gives the book one of the collection's strongest legal records. The item matters because it links literary form to institutional conflict: a quiet romance for teenagers became the object of donation campaigns, library review, board removal, student and family litigation, and later anniversary republication. Its source trail is unusually specific about who acted, when, and through which institution.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Work History And Local Copy

The work was first published in 1982, while the local catalog records 1984, likely pointing to a later or paperback edition in the collection. That distinction should remain visible because edition dates can easily become false first-publication claims. The book's later Square Fish anniversary record adds another stage, naming the full-length Kathleen T. Horning interview included in the 25th Anniversary Edition. Read this way, Annie on My Mind is not a single static object. It is a work whose covers, interviews, school-library status, and anniversary editions kept changing its public frame.[7][8][2][9]

A Lesbian YA Landmark

ALA's Edwards Award materials credit Garden with creating a lesbian love story for young adults with a positive emotional ending. That is the core reason Annie on My Mind belongs in the collection. The novel is not about parents explaining identity to a child; it is about teenagers discovering desire, secrecy, risk, and loyalty from inside adolescent life. School Library Journal's obituary and the Macmillan anniversary record both keep that literary achievement tied to controversy, showing how the book's intimate form became inseparable from its public access history.[10][3][11]

Beyond Picture Books

Placed beside picture books, Annie on My Mind changes the visitor's scale of attention. The earlier family books ask whether children can see their households recognized; Garden's novel asks whether teenagers can recognize themselves and imagine a future. Garden's own writing on LGBTQ young adult literature and later interviews make that field context explicit. The book therefore should not be treated as an outlier in the sample. It gives the collection a way to connect childhood family representation to adolescent identity, privacy, friendship, and love.[12][13][14]

Olathe And Student Access

Case v. Unified School District No. 233 is the strongest public record for the book's access history. The federal findings describe Robert Birle's donation offer for GLAAD/Kansas City and Project 21, the discovery that Annie was already present in several Olathe school libraries, favorable review by media specialists, superintendent Ron Wimmer's removal order, and the board's later vote. That sequence matters because it is more precise than a generic banned-book label. The record shows selection, review, removal, student access, and constitutional litigation unfolding around one YA novel.[4][15][16]

Timeline

  1. 1982First publicationFarrar, Straus and Giroux publishes Annie on My Mind.[7][1]
  2. 1984First paperback / local dateLibrary records identify a 1984 paperback trail; the local catalog also records 1984.[8][2][9]
  3. 1993Donation and public controversyThe Olathe controversy begins after a donation campaign and public objections.[4]
  4. 1995Federal decisionThe court holds the removal unconstitutional and orders return of the books.[4]
  5. 2003Edwards AwardGarden receives the Margaret A. Edwards Award.[10][3]
  6. 2014Garden memorialALA's memorial resolution records Garden's awards, censorship history, and public role.[14][18]
  7. 1993Donation offerRobert Birle offered to donate Annie on My Mind and All American Boys to Olathe schools on behalf of GLAAD/Kansas City and Project 21.[5][4]
  8. 1993Library reviewOlathe media specialists reviewed the donated books and found Annie on My Mind suitable for high school library collections.[4]

Edition Trail

Related publication and object-history notes for this item.

1982

First publication

Farrar, Straus and Giroux first publishes the novel.

1984

Paperback / local catalog date

Library and local records point to a 1984 edition trail.

Explore Connections

Browse direct links, shared themes, and nearby publication dates.

Linked records

1990s challenge ecology

Daddy's Roommate

Both titles appear in ALA's 1990s challenged-book record, though they serve different age groups.

References [16]

1990s challenge ecology

Heather Has Two Mommies

Heather and Annie connect picture-book family representation with YA lesbian self-recognition inside the same decade of public access disputes.

References [16][18]

Later challenge peer

And Tango Makes Three

Tango becomes a later picture-book challenge counterpart in ALA's 2000s records.

References [19]

Lesbian life across age groups

When Megan Went Away

Megan concerns lesbian adult/family life in picture-book form; Annie concerns adolescent lesbian selfhood in YA fiction.

References [12]

Shared themes

Book challenges

Everywhere Babies

A mainstream baby picture book whose illustrations include same-sex-parent, single-parent, mixed-race, and other caregiver families.

Nearby dates

Published 1981

Families

The English family-diversity title that anchors the collection's Families / Familias edition trail.

Published 1980s

Jennifer Has Two Daddies

A children's book about a father and stepfather, useful here as a cautionary context record.

English edition 1983

Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin

A photographic picture book about a girl, her father, and her father's male partner.

Lollipop Power, 1983

Lots of Mommies

A feminist small-press picture book about a child cared for by several women.

Citation

Annie on My Mind. Nancy Garden. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982. Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection, Mechanics' Institute. Collection ID: KB-205.

Showing Plain text citation format.

Sources

Cover image from Open Library.

  1. Open Library work record for Annie on My Mind · library
  2. WorldCat record for 1984 first paperback · library
  3. YALSA 2003 Margaret Edwards Award page · award
  4. Case v. Unified School District No. 233 · legal
  5. Case v. Unified School District No. 233, 895 F. Supp. 1463 · web
  6. Macmillan record for the 25th Anniversary Edition · web
  7. Google Books record for 1982 Annie on My Mind · library
  8. Open Library 1984 edition record for Annie on My Mind · library
  9. Local collection catalog record for KB-205 · catalog
  10. ALA Edwards Award release for Nancy Garden · award
  11. Library Journal, Annie on Her Mind · professional
  12. Nancy Garden, ALAN Review on LGBTQ YA literature · scholarship
  13. Cynthia Leitich Smith interview with Nancy Garden · interview
  14. ALA memorial resolution for Nancy Garden · institutional
  15. NCAC Books in Trouble 2 · advocacy
  16. ALA most challenged books of 1990-1999 · ala
  17. NCTE author rationale for Annie on My Mind · web
  18. School Library Journal obituary for Nancy Garden · trade
  19. ALA most challenged books of 2000-2009 · ala