Music from Another World

"Again, I thought this book was incredibly eye opening, because it’s got that historical slant on gay rights. It’s set in the 1970s and it’s told entirely through letters between two female characters who live in different parts of California, and their lives are completely and utterly different. Tammy is also writing letters in her diary to gay rights activist Harvey Milk. The story has a lot about what was happening at the time in terms of the politics, and how Harvey Milk was involved. Tammy writes these letters in her diary because she doesn’t feel like she can talk. She’s from a very conservative family which is openly against gay rights. Tammy is secretly gay herself and she wants to have those relationships, to live her full and true life. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . At first she’s writing to Harvey Milk to get those feelings out there and put them down on paper, then she ends up as a pen pal with Sharon, who is in San Francisco and who is much more liberal. Sharon’s world is much more open and progressive and she’s involved a lot in punk music and protests. Her brother is openly gay. She is gay as well, as we find out by the end of the story, and the two girls bond over that. But what I really like about the book was learning the historical side of things, because I did not live through that time period, I was born in the late 1980s. And growing up and going through school I’ve taken it very much for granted that LGBT rights are human rights. But as we’ve spoken about already, that has not always been the case, and it was really interesting to see that from a 1970s female perspective. So what being a female in the 1970s was like, but also to be gay in the 1970s as a woman, with lots of layers of hardship. The music element is really empowering. Yes, the progressive punk rock side of things is something that Sharon as a character really tapped into, and it helped her fight for everything she was fighting for, helped give her that voice and that opportunity. Again, you’re looking at music from a historical point of view as well. I think it’s great. Robin Talley writes a lot of books with similar themes, we’ve had Lies We Tell Ourselves and more recently Pulp , and they both have that kind of historical twist to them, which makes modern day readers open their eyes a little bit more to the fight that has gone before us, and the fight that we still have now as well. Sign up here for our newsletter featuring the best children’s and young adult books, as recommended by authors, teachers, librarians and, of course, kids. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss these fantastic novels. They are just a small selection of the books available out there, there are so many more books and authors creating wonderful work. I could easily have talked about 55 books instead of five, and many more authors: Becky Albertalli, Juno Dawson, David Levithan, Lauren James, Leah Johnson, Rainbow Rowell to name a few. I hope I’ve helped to highlight the breadth and variety of young adult fiction for all readers. Fiction can be a great way to learn about the world, about ourselves and those around us. Books like these featuring teenage LGBTQ+ characters may be the springboard that helps a young person discover their true self, better understand a friend, or empathise with a situation around them."