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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | TEEN FICTION TAL | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | TEEN FICTION TAL | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
In 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It's not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks exposing herself--and Marie--to a danger all too real.
Sixty-two years later, Abby Zimet can't stop thinking about her senior project and its subject--classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. Between the pages of her favorite book, the stresses of Abby's own life are lost to the fictional hopes, desires and tragedies of the characters she's reading about. She feels especially connected to one author, a woman who wrote under the pseudonym "Marian Love," and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity.
In this novel told in dual narratives, New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley weaves together the lives of two young women connected across generations through the power of words. A stunning story of bravery, love, how far we've come and how much farther we have to go.
Author Notes
Robin Talley is the New York Times-bestselling author of four novels for teen readers: Our Own Private Universe, As I Descended, What We Left Behind, and Lies We Tell Ourselves. Her first book, Lies We Tell Ourselves, was the winner of the inaugural Amnesty CILIP Honour. Robin was a Lambda Literary Foundation fellow, and has contributed short stories to the young adult anthologies A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers and Other Badass Girls, All Out, and Feral Youth.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Senior Abby returns from summer break in the hopes that the hiatus she and ex-girlfriend Linh took in the spring will end and they can be a couple again. That, combined with her parents' estrangement, prompt Abby to immerse herself in her senior year assignment: 1950s lesbian fiction. Abby discovers a book written by "Marian Love" that speaks to her conception of love. In alternating chapters, we meet the work's real author, Janet Jones, a recent graduate who herself has stumbled upon lesbian fiction validating her feelings for her friend Marie. But Marie works for the federal government in the midst of the Lavender Scare-an extension of the Red Scare that sought to root out LGBTQ employees-complicating their budding relationship. Abby's quest to find the author under the auspices of her assignment allows her to avoid confronting her changing relationship with Linh. Talley, already accomplished at weaving historical detail into engaging narratives, pulls off an expansive story encompassing a host of characters, including the fictional characters within Janet's books. She skillfully illustrates the fear and isolation of being a lesbian teen in unforgiving times, making the larger historical context relatable and the intimate aspects visceral. Her modern characters by contrast are out LGBTQ+ teens. Abby's sexuality is a given, she's free to live her relationships and explore her issues. VERDICT A sweeping, engrossing drama full of important moments. Recommended for all library collections.-Hillary St. George, Los Angeles Public Library © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In 1955, aspiring author Janet, a sheltered teen living in Washington, D.C., has no words for what she feels for her best friend, Marie, and she's living through the Lavender Scare that forced LGBTQ people out of government jobs. When she finds a lesbian novel at a bus station, she's inspired to write one herself. Sixty-two years later, high school senior Abby lives in the same city; her love life is hard because her girlfriend dumped her, not because anyone disapproves. Abby has long written fan fiction, and when she discovers lesbian pulp novels from the 1950s and early '60s, she's enthralled and sets out to examine the genre. The books are rule-bound-the women must straighten out or die tragically-but one tells a love story that Abby can't stop thinking about, particularly because she's trying to understand whether love can last. Talley (Our Own Private Universe) toggles effectively between excerpts from Janet's book, the two women's lives, and Abby's research as the stories draw together. Though secondary characters feel underdrawn, the tale is original and delivers some interesting LGBTQ history, and the tone of the novels within it is pleasantly pulpy. Ages 12-up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Guardian Review
Mealtime wars, a puppy without a bark and crazy science ... fun and facts for all ages in this month's selection The final children's books roundup for 2018 reflects a brilliant year. From the subtle to the over-the-top, the tear-jerking to the comic, it's been a bumper crop - and 2019 shows early signs of being just as good. In picture books, Valdemar's Peas (Gecko) by Maria Jönsson is an adorably scruffy, pleasingly unexpected tale of mealtime battles and the unscrupulous use of younger siblings. Valdemar the little wolf must eat his peas before he can have ice-cream. Or can sister Lynn provide a way round the problem? Many a frazzled parent will empathise with Papa Wolf, conceding with an exhausted sigh. From Nigerian publisher Cassava Republic comes Hair, It's a Family Affair!, with author Mylo Freeman's characteristically bold, colourful illustrations. It's Macy's turn to tell her class about her family - Grandma's amazing afro, her baby sister's soft, sweet hair, and Daddy, who doesn't have any hair at all - in this cheerful, inclusive celebration. Sweep by the poet Louise Greig (Egmont) is a gorgeous visual exploration of the development of a bad mood, as single fallen leaves combine into huge heaps, submerging everything good - then dwindling and departing bit by bit, leaving crisply "cleared air" behind. Júlia Sardà's tatterdemalion leaves and bright balloons perfectly amplify Greig's restrained but evocative text. For five- to eight-year-olds, Sonam and the Silence (Allen & Unwin) by the Australian broadcaster and musician Eddie Ayres is a vivid, lyrical story with the heightened feel of a fable. In Taliban-ruled Kabul, young Sonam has no time for anything but work and compliance with the regime - until she hears the beautiful sound of an old man playing a rubab. But music is forbidden, and Sonam must defy her family's fears to pursue it. Ronak Taher's mixed-media images combine sombre greys and threatening darkness with flashes of bright, rebellious colour, such as a single pomegranate lingering on a tree. There's more consoling music in The Dog Who Lost His Bark (Walker), a warm, gentle collaboration between Irish children's laureates Eoin Colfer and PJ Lynch. Oz, a puppy maltreated until he's too frightened to bark, is lucky to be rescued by Patrick, a patient, music-loving boy; but when Patrick rejects Oz in an attempt to persuade his dog-allergic dad not to leave the family, fresh heartbreak ensues for both. Lynch's soft pencil illustrations create a sense of quiet tenderness. Dara Ó Briain 's Secret Science: The Amazing World Be yond Your Eyes (Scholastic), illustrated with squiggly charm by Dan Bramall, is fascinating, as well as very funny. Whether it's exploring the Maillard reaction (not the mallard reaction, which is what happens if you give ducks toast instead of bread) or the effects of procrastination on the brain, its crazy mixture of fonts and facts will stick fast in the memory. Fans of Jakob Wegelius's strange and wonderful gorilla odyssey The Murderer's Ape will be delighted by its prequel, The Legend of Sally Jones (Pushkin), translated by Peter Graves. A highly illustrated account of primate protagonist Sally's origins, it has more of an oversized picture book or graphic novel feel than the previous novel; it's both the perfect way in for those to whom a huge book seems intimidating, and witty enough to satisfy in its own right. Another resourceful heroine appears in a new edition of Astrid Lindgren 's Ronja, the Robber's Daughter, translated by Patricia Crampton and published by Oxford to tie in with the gorgeous Studio Ghibli TV adaptation. Katsuya Kondo's soft sketches are interwoven with this bold, invigorating story of a robber chieftain's only child: her love of the forest, despite its fearsome wild harpies and grey dwarfs, and her conflicting loyalties to Mattis, her doting father, and Birk, son of a rival chief, who is Ronja's dearest friend. The perfect antidote to Wikipedia skimming, the splendidly hefty Absolutely Everything! A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rulers, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous to Mention (What on Earth) by Christopher Lloyd, illustrated by Andy Forshaw, feels as compendious as an old-school encyclopedia and as engaging as the Horrible Histories books. Stuffed full of colour illustrations and photos, it will satisfy Guinness World Records fans while providing a broader, more contextualised sense of where weird, wonderful and outrageous facts might fit into the bigger picture. For ages 12 and above, Costa-winner Linda Newbery revisits KM Peyton 's beloved Essex estate Flambards in the poignant, thoughtful The Key to Flambards (David Fickling), set in the present day. Grace Russell is adapting slowly to the loss of her leg in an accident and to her parents' separation. When she and her mother move to Flambards for the summer, she doesn't expect to become passionately involved with her family history, the wild richness of the landscape and the boys she meets - or to discover a new joy in riding. Newbery's teenagers feel somewhat old-fashioned, but her sensitive portrayal of grief and recovery is superlative. There's grief, too, in Who Killed Christopher Goodman? (Walker), a slim novel by Allan Wolf that revisits an event from his own small town American adolescence. Eccentric, charismatic and kind, Chris Goodman is universally liked; when his body is found at the side of the road, it rocks the community to its roots. As six voices, including the killer's, weave together their collective sense of responsibility and loss, Wolf's book becomes something extraordinary - poetic, experimental and strange, full of stifling heat and painful, gradual catharsis. Lastly, in Pulp (HarperCollins), Robin Talley provides some fascinating insights into the "lavender scare" of repressive 1950s America, and the constant scrutiny that ground down young gay women. Present-day senior Abby, struggling to deal with a recent break-up and her parents' faltering marriage, decides to write a lesbian pulp novel of her own. In the mid-fifties, 18-year-old Janet discovers, via a lurid paperback, that her forbidden feelings are not unique...Two lives and two writers' journeys intertwine as Abby and Janet adapt to their different challenging realities. Though there are some repetitious moments, this ambitious novel is startlingly original. - Imogen Russell Williams.
Kirkus Review
Two Washington, D.C., lesbian teens, 62 years apart, each discover classic lesbian pulp fictionlate midcentury paperbacks depicting a shadowy world of forbidden love. For 18-year-old Janet Jones in 1955, A Love So Strange is a revelation: She had no idea "other girls might feel the way she did." Janet and her friend Marie, who are both assumed white, tentatively explore their growing attraction but face warnings from an African-American lesbian couple that Marie's government job and reputation are in danger. For high school senior Abby Zimet in 2017, the world is different. She has been out to her accepting white Jewish family since ninth grade. Nursing a broken heart from the breakup with her bisexual classmate Linh, a Vietnamese-American girl, Abby turns to reading pulp novels and researching gay and lesbian life in midcentury D.C. Talley (Our Own Private Universe, 2017, etc.) adds complexity by tying Janet's and Abby's storylines together: Both girls write their own pulp novels, creating two additional plotlines. The books within a book are cleverly written to mimic pulp styles, and the superlative pacing will hook readers. The acknowledgments describe the author's meticulous research and the actual historical events (e.g. the persecution of queer government employees during the Lavender Scare of the 1950s) and literature upon which the book is based. Readers familiar with D.C. may find the liberties taken with geography distracting.Suspenseful parallel lesbian love stories deftly illuminate important events in LGBTQ history. (bibliography) (Fiction. 13-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Not many YA novels contain one lesbian romance, let alone four, but Talley's newest pulls it off, while creatively spanning time and genre. In the present day, Abby Zimet is out and proud, despite chaffing against the just friends label newly instituted by her ex. Breakup stress is compounded by her parents' crumbling marriage, and Abby finds escape in an unlikely place: vintage lesbian pulp fiction. So much so that researching the genre and writing her own pulp novel becomes her senior project. The book that starts her obsession is Women of the Twilight Realm, by Marian Love, passages of which intercut Abby's narrative, along with 18-year-old Janet Jones' story line, set in 1955. Janet's own discovery of lesbian lit holds many parallels to Abby's, but her closeted life offers a dramatic contrast. Talley pulls pre-Stonewall history, such as the lavender scare, the gay bar scene, and actual lesbian pulp authors, into this fun but substantive read. As Abby loses herself to her project, she eventually finds firmer footing in her own life and identity.--Julia Smith Copyright 2018 Booklist
