If you've been following me for a while, you'll know that I love Peters books, and even though I have a stack of books on the waiting to be read pile, I couldn't wait to start reading it when I got it last week. And I really enjoyed it. Admittedly, I didn't click with it when I first started, which I usually do - but after a while, I was hooked.It's basically a novel about this girl, Mike, who is a lesbian and has lived in this small town in Kansass her entire life. So it's a bit of a typical storyline - how would the town take her when they found out she was gay? But actually, that wasn't the storyline at all. The storyline dealt with a lot more problems than just liking the same sex - it was about liking someone who couldn't love you back; about coming to terms with living without someone; about learning to accept who you are; about learning that dreams can come true, you just have to believe. And at the end, I did look back on the novel and felt this wave of emotion, like I do with all her novels. I can guarantee you that after reading just one book, you will learn something new about yourself - or accept it. And I think that is a pretty amazing thing for a book to do.However, there were some things I didn't like - another first. I'm pretty used to adoring all of the characters in a Peters novel, but it took a while with Mike. I think that is probably because she's very sporty and active, and I'm...well. I'm a couch potato. But one thing that really put me off was how harsh she was to everyone. Of course, she was going through a lot, and I would say that she is one of the strongest characters I have ever read about. But she was horrible a lot of the time - to Jamie, to Darryl, to her mum, her teachers...The only person she was nice to was Xanadu, which got me rather annoyed - though I won't say why, because spoilers. But she did annoy me a bit, which is why I wouldn't give this book a ten.But despite it not being a ten, I would recommend it if you like books by Peters and David Levithan and John Green, and are interested in learning more about what it is to be LGBT. I still really enjoyed it, and I can't wait till I get my hands on another novel of hers.
After reading a fascinating study of library services to GLBTQ teens for one of my classes ([http://www.slais.ubc.ca/RESEARCH/curr...]), I started reading more of the literature being written for this young adult population. Far from Xanadu is one of the most recent and possibly my favorite so far, largely owing to the unique voice of its narrator, Mike Szabo - a 16-year-old girl. Nee Mary Elizabeth - but don't call her that unless you want a knuckle sandwich - Mike and her best friend, Jamie, have always been different from other kids in Coalton, Kansas. But unlike many small-town populations in GLBTQ teen fic, Coalton's residents don't take much notice of Mike and Jamie's gender-bending ways (Mike works out to look more like a guy; Jamie is a cross-dressing male cheerleader), nor the implications for their sexuality. Mike makes it clear that she's accepted, if not completely understood, and that she's never felt like an outcast - one of only a few details that ring true about rural Midwestern life as seen through the eyes of a hometown girl.But Coalton isn't utopia, and Mike isn't completely comfortable in her own skin. She struggles to make sense of her beloved father's suicide, make decisions about the failing family business and her future as a softball star, and deal with falling in love with someone who couldn't be worse for her - a new girl in town, Xanadu, beautiful and worldly but impossibly straight. Mike's matter-of-fact attitude about her sexuality is refreshing, as is the portrayal of small-town middle America, for once cast as close-knit (if insular) rather than simply closed-minded. Mike's coming of age crisis of identity and unrequited love story is relatable for gay young adults, but will also be appealing to any teen looking for a straight-shooting heroine and a down-home yarn.
What do You think about Far From Xanadu (2008)?
This is my second Julie Anne Peters book. Pretend You Love Me is about a lesbian girl named Mike who loves to work out, play softball, and fix plumbing in her small Kansas town. She also has a best friend named Jamie who is also gay--but much more outspoken and flamboyant about it than she is. Mike is still dealing with her father's suicide and mother's detachment (and growing weight problem) when a new girl named Xanadu moves to town. Mike immediately falls for Xanadu and soon learns the heartbreak of loving someone who will never love you back.At first, I didn't like this. Mike's POV seemed odd. However, as I got into it, I began to understand and sympathize with her a lot better. This is my first book with a lesbian as the MC (besides Pretty Little Liars, which isn't first person and has four MCs). It was really interesting and Peters shows that regardless of what some might think, Mike is just like any other teenager. Things hurt her. She wants to be accepted and loved. I really enjoyed Mike's story and the heartbreaking relationship between her and Xanadu. At times I liked Xanadu but at others I really didn't. I loved the relationship between Mike and Jamie and also how the people in town treated them with LOVE and acceptance. I can think of other towns that wouldn't be as tolerant.This is a pretty deep book. Mike has to deal with a lot of things. I couldn't believe how her mother acted toward her and how she let herself gain so much weight that she couldn't leave the house or do a lot for herself. It's something I've never seen in a book before. Suicide is also not easy, especially when a loved one does it without leaving any reason. I didn't like Mike's brother much but he surprised me in the end.This is a touching, complex story that well deserves 4 stars, a rating I never imagined this would get when I first started reading it. The characters are realistic and often times flawed, the emotion is real and gritty, and Peters has a very beautiful way of writing. I can't wait to read more by her.
—J.N.
Strong, silent and suffering. Mike is one of the more intense protagonists I have seen in a while. She barely speaks in the novel, but we can feel her pain exquisitely. The small town is depicted in a balanced and loving way. Mike & Jamie are not excluded or made to feel different. The family dysfunction is allowed to develop naturally through the narrative, and Xanadu, although pivotal, is clearly shallow and not worth our time. Wish Mike could have reached understanding a bit sooner. Ah, but first love. It is what it is. Painful and poignant.
—Trisha
"Mike" (Mary Elizabeth) Szabo finds herself falling for the new girl, Xanadu. The problem is, Xanadu is straight, and manipulative. Mike is in denial for most of the book, about a number of things: grief over her father's suicide that she still needs to work through, her sexuality, enormous opportunities in her future, the support and love for her in the community, her brother's concern for her, his struggle and grief, the truth behind her mother's obesity, and the fact that Xanadu will never love her "that way." Despite the novel being chock full of problems (if there were ever a quintessential problem novel, this might be one), there is a hopeful ending and a refreshing depiction of an accepting, loving small town community.
—Brooke
