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Far from Xanadu
Every day in Coalton is pretty much the same. Mike pumps iron in the morning, drives her truck to school, plays softball in the afternoon, and fixes the neighbors' plumbing at night. But when an exotic new girl, Xanadu, arrives in the small Kansas town, Mike's world is turned upside down. Xanadu is everything Mike is not--cool, complicated, sexy, and...straight. This heart...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
May 10th 2011
by Little, Brown Young Readers
(first published May 4th 2005)
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After reading a fascinating study of library services to GLBTQ teens for one of my classes ([http://www.slais.ubc.ca/RESEARCH/current-research/curry/GLBT_2005_06_22.pdf]), 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 knuckl...more
Nee Mary Elizabeth - but don't call her that unless you want a knuckl...more
I would give this book a 3.5 if that were possible. Far From Xanadu has a different feel from Julie Anne Peters's other books. The writing seems more choppy, maybe? I thought this was better than Keeping You a Secret, not as good as Luna or Between Mom and Jo. I liked the emotional side of it and the pacing. It didn't seem as fast a read as some of her other books were.
Mike is a likeable narrator and main charactor. I enjoyed watching her develop as a character. Her brother, Daryl,...more
Mike is a likeable narrator and main charactor. I enjoyed watching her develop as a character. Her brother, Daryl,...more
This book is freaking amazing. It is just the right amount of difficulty so that you have to use your brain powere to understand what's going on at first, but once you catch on it's not too difficult to keep up. It is a little sad... this is a trend of mine if you didn't notice, but the rest of the story made up for it. I don't wish to give anything of the plot away, and I warn you not to read the back to give it away. It's best to figure it out on your own. But it is amazingly written, and intr...more
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This is very different and more mature than some GLBT books out there and I appreciated its uniqueness. Mike (or Mary Elizabeth which is her given name) is a tough broad-- bulking up and wearing her fathers old clothes and boxers to feel closer to him, after his suicide two years prior-- and because she's more comfortable as a lesbian wearing male clothes and doing male things (lifting weights at a converted VFW, hauling feed at the local Mercantile's for farms, and working with their family's a...more
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While this book is a fast read it is also a serious read. Mike (born Mary Elizabeth) Szabo is a dedicated student, an outstanding softball player and a good friend to her best friend Jamie, the town's flaming male cheerleader. She is also tortured by her father's suicide, her mother's morbid obesity and refusal to acknowledge Mike's presence, and her brother's neglect of the family business. Enter Xanadu, a new girl (orientation? straight.) in school with a troubling past who sparks an immedi...more
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This was an awesome book. There was so much going on and I couldn’t get enough of it. It put a lot of things into perspective. I never knew the life of a lesbian because I am not that way but as you read this you get into her head and start thinking the way she does and start understanding.
This book is about a girl named Mike. She lives with her brother and mother only; her dad committed suicide. She lives in a small town where no excitement ever happens. Until one day when a new girl co...more
This book is about a girl named Mike. She lives with her brother and mother only; her dad committed suicide. She lives in a small town where no excitement ever happens. Until one day when a new girl co...more
I didn't relate to this very well, being that I've never had a crush on someone who didn't feel the same way, but the sad story of a reluctant lesbian with a crush on a straight girl was thought-provoking and inspiring as well. I thought Mike was a cool main character. :)
Peters deals with not just the issues of being a gay teenager in this book, but also the emotional turmoil of feeling abandoned. The revelation and wrap-up at the end is a little sudden, but not so much as to seem out of place. The foreshadowing was probably the most skillfully done part of this book, as it revealed just enough to the reader so that the reader could guess at what was coming next, but didn't spoil anything. Peters did an excellent job of representing what it is like to be a te...more
The title of this book completely gives away the plot. I believe the other title of this book, "Far From Xanadu," is a better title.
Mike (Mary-Elizabeth) Szabo is a lesbian teen in a very small Kansas town. I was shocked by how supportive this small town was of Mike and Jamie, who was her male gay friend. I've lived in very small towns, and they were not at all accepting of homosexuality back in the 80s and 90s. Maybe times really have changed?
Though the story was...more
Mike (Mary-Elizabeth) Szabo is a lesbian teen in a very small Kansas town. I was shocked by how supportive this small town was of Mike and Jamie, who was her male gay friend. I've lived in very small towns, and they were not at all accepting of homosexuality back in the 80s and 90s. Maybe times really have changed?
Though the story was...more
I really love Julie Ann Peters' books but this one, I loved the story but I didn't enjoy while reading because I'm little bothered by Mike's "boyish" stuff cuz at some points I feel like it went overboard. Before you accuse me of "gayism" you are wrong. I'm more of lesbian than straight. It just irks me when I thought of a girl unshaved, with muscles, etc. Know what I mean? Overall, I like this book. I love when Mike talks about his father and his words, I know that its sad b...more
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 ...more
So I tried this book after I read "Keeping You a Secret", which was just, amazing. This book, not so much.
The beginning starts out pretty straight forward, but with good potential and good heart. I can't deny that Mike is a good character, deep and thoughtful, however, the author had about a million plotlines at once, from Mike's baseball career, to her Dad's suicide, to her issues with her mother, to her brother problems, to Jamie and his search for love, Mike's plumbing b...more
The beginning starts out pretty straight forward, but with good potential and good heart. I can't deny that Mike is a good character, deep and thoughtful, however, the author had about a million plotlines at once, from Mike's baseball career, to her Dad's suicide, to her issues with her mother, to her brother problems, to Jamie and his search for love, Mike's plumbing b...more
Julie Anne Peters is probably my favorite author, so needless to say when I found out I won a book of my choice, I picked this one.
Every book I've read by her is even better than the one before it. This one is no different. I devoured it. I just couldn't get enough and in the end, as always with Peters books, I wanted more.
I have fallen for a lot of straight girls in my life and I know how hard it is. Especially when they do the kind of things that Xanadu does. It's tortu...more
Every book I've read by her is even better than the one before it. This one is no different. I devoured it. I just couldn't get enough and in the end, as always with Peters books, I wanted more.
I have fallen for a lot of straight girls in my life and I know how hard it is. Especially when they do the kind of things that Xanadu does. It's tortu...more
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Throughout the course of a few snow days, you might get bored and decide to pick up what looks like a short and enjoyable book and try to read it through in almost one sitting. Well, Far From Xanadu was an excellent book for this kind of setting. And speaking of settings, it was VERY strong in this book (in a good way!). It takes place in a small town in Kansas, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city- a place where Mike, a junior in high school who has struggled with not only being open...more
Read it because I'm trying to read some queer YA and YA fantasy these days. I sort of connected to the unrequited love aspect and the girl who's meaner to herself than she needs to be. And yeah, it's interesting to see a lesbian story that's not really about a relationship and where the core character identifies as butch. The story itself was decent, but the writing didn't work for me. The voice was just wrong, melodramatic in not-teen-enough ways.
Young Adult queer lit is one of my pet interests, and I really like Peters's work. I enjoyed the unique perspective of this piece - not only does it focus on family issues and romance rather than the drama of coming out, but the protagonist is a butch teenage lesbian. The added bonus of exploring the challenges of rural living, poverty, alcoholism, and living with parents who have psychological problems make this a compelling read in every sense.
There was something so...sweet about this book that I just loved. But honestly, I read it expecting to fall in love with Xanadu as well and I never even reached a point where I liked her. And Mike's feelings seemed to me to be more lust than love so it was a bit difficult to relate to the whole premise of the book because the romance just wasn't done right to me. Definitely not on par with "Keeping you a secret" like I'd hoped.
My favorite part of the book was the juxtaposition of Mike and Jamie, which showed two distinct approaches to dealing with sexuality and persona in a small town. Also poignant was Mike's coming to terms with her father's suicide two years before. The one aspect that fell slat was the romance angle. It kept going long after I was ready for it to be finished.
Evan
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes coming of age stories
Shelves:
youngadultfiction
Mike is a great softball player. She's a junior and lives in a very small town in Kansas. Her bestfriend is a cheerleader named Jamie who is gay. Mike meets a very beautiful girl named Xanuda and immediately falls in love with her. Xanuda is in love with a guy named Bailey. Mike's father committed suicide two years ago so she's dealing with that and also with coming to terms with being gay. She has an older brother who she mostly doesn't get along with and a mom who's slowly eating herself...more
6. Personal Response: This book brought up lots of feelings in me, especially about baiter types, which I will keep to myself. [return]7. Connections: This could be in a library display about troubled forbidden teenage love or about big city new kids who come to town and the trouble they cause ;-)
An excellent LGBT book in terms of writing. The character development and description is not nearly what I wanted to truly have an image of the characters. However, the topic is explicit; the emotional stance is clear; and, the setting supportive of the topic and subject.
I think this is worthy of recommendation.
I think this is worthy of recommendation.
This is the first LBGT book I've ever read. It didn't particularly touch me or stand out among other LBGT I read later on, but the writing was extraordinary and the characters were easy to relate to. It was a bit too full of angst and too predictable for my taste, but a good read for a teen.
Great story about coming-of-age in a small town. The main character is a lesbian teenager who accepts but does not embrace her sexual identity. The fact of her SI is secondary, however, to themes of self-discovery and falling in love with those who are just out of reach.
Far From Xanadu was amazing. The idea of a whole story dedicated to loving someone you can never have doesn't really appeal to me but the depth and layers to the story made me fall in love with it instantly. I know some people were upset that Mike kind of does follow the lesbian stereotype but I think in all writing you have to have both ends of the spectrum. While no one should make these assumptions about her becuase she's gay, I think that Julie Anne Peters did a wonderful job of creating an-...more
I would give this a 4.5 if possible. It's not the best book I've ever read but it definitely hit home with me. To be honest I can relate ALOT with wanting someone you can't have and this book felt like it was written about me. I really recommend this book.
Far From Xanadu is a decent young adult novel elevated by its focus on a butch heroine (extremely rare!) and issues of love far beyond the usual coming out story so prevalent in stories focused on queer protagonists. If you’d like.
Even though the gay characters fit a sterotype, they are still fleshed out pretty well and overall it was a good read. I love the positive view on internet relationships too, while still stating that you have to be careful. Anyway, good read.
"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 wil...more
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Julie Anne Peters was born in Jamestown, New York. When she was five, her family moved to the Denver suburbs in Colorado. Her parents divorced when she was in high school. She has three siblings: a brother, John, and two younger sisters, Jeanne and Susan.
Her books for young adults include Define "Normal" (2000), Keeping You a Secret (2003), Luna (2004), Far from Xanadu (2005)...more
More about Julie Anne Peters...
Her books for young adults include Define "Normal" (2000), Keeping You a Secret (2003), Luna (2004), Far from Xanadu (2005)...more
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“Miracles don't happen. You make them happen. They're not wishes or dreams or candles on a cake. They're not impossible. Reality is real. It's totally and completely under my control.”
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“Wiping the rivulet of sweat running down my ear with the bottom of my muscle shirt, I snuck a sniff under my pit. Whoa. Kill a moose”
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