Author: Jaye Robin Brown
What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): When Jo's evangelical radio preacher dad remarries and moves them from Atlanta to small-town Rome, Georgia, he asks her to be quiet about her sexuality for her senior year. Jo, who has always been out and proud, reluctantly agrees. At first, she finds it surprisingly easy to fit in with the mainstream straight crowd, but when she falls in love with Mary Carlson, Jo begins to regret the promise she made to her dad and new step-mom.
What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Georgia Peaches exceeded my expectations because it was not "Dad makes daughter hide who she is to please shrewish new stepmother. They move to small town of stereotypes that damn all queer people to hell."
Instead, the characters are well-rounded.
Joanna does not want to hide who she is but agrees because she loves her father. Dad is a preacher but not a fire-and-brimstone type; he is even giving Joanna her own radio show to talk to teenagers like herself. The stepmother is kind and compassionate. Yes, there are a few haters in the small-town church environment, but they do not drive the plot. Joanna's best friend from Atlanta, Dana, is such a hot mess that even Joanna admits that her life is easier without all of that drama.
This book is like the lesbian version of Openly Straight, but the main difference is that Joanna is not hiding her sexuality by choice; Joanna really believes that by staying closeted, she is helping her newly-pregnant stepmother.
In many small towns, churches are the social hubs of communities, and it is devastating and lonely for LGBTQ teenagers who are shunned for coming out. Georgia Peaches portrays a church community that is, while far from perfect, a positive representation of an accepting high school youth group. Even though real-life past experiences wanted me to hate Joanna's dad and step-mom, I couldn't in this book. They were real people: not perfect, but loving and compassionate.
This book is on the 2017 Rainbow Book List.
My grade: A. More books with a positive spin on religious communities and homosexuality need to be written.
My favorite quotes:
- "Dear heavenly father or Mother--'cause, you know, who knows if you're really a guy--give me strength to follow my dad's wishes and the strength not to kick some dumb country girl's ass. Sorry. Rear end. Amen. Joanna" (hardback edition, pg. 46).
- "Kissing Mary Carlson is spooning homemade peach ice cream into your mouth on the hottest Georgia day. It is shooting stars and hot lava. It is every goose bump you ever had in your entire life built up and exploding at once. It is going to be the end of me, but I don't care" (pg. 204).
- "I can't keep living this way. And I don't want a radio show if you're not willing to try and practice what you preach here at the house. You need to decide. Do you really love me as God made me and believe that I'm put here on this earth as your equal? Or am I, and all the others like me, something that can only be talked about off the airwaves? What do you want me to believe, Dad?" (pg. 337).
- "As you know I'm not only a Christian, I'm a lesbian, and it fills me with such gratitude to have friends who understand my struggles and love me the way God made me" (pg. 400).
Other reviews: AfterEllen and GLBT Reviews
This book is available in the Greensboro Public Library.
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