Customer Reviews

Far from Xanadu

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mike is buff. Mike makes All-State in fast-pitch. When the gorgeous redhead, Xanadu shows up in the tiny Kansas town, Mike falls madly in love with her. But Mike -- aka Mary-Elizabeth -- Szabo is a girl.

Whether you're straight or gay, first love is painful. And Mike falls hard for the exotic beauty from the Denver suburbs with a troubled past. A friendship sparks between them immediately but Xanadu is straight. When she falls for Bailey, one of the local cowboys, Mike's emotions are turned inside out.

Dealing with her strong feelings for Xanadu stirs up emotions that Mike has buried for two years. Growing up, her dad filled her head with a big dream of a softball scholarship to college. But her dream died when he committed suicide. Mike watches her best friend, Jamie find romance with Shane and latches onto the new dream that her love for Xanadu will change her.

Meanwhile, her coach, Mrs. Kinneson, also the school principal, revives her big dream by tempting her with the promise of a slot at fast-pitch camp. But Mike doesn't have the money and she doesn't accept charity. When the townspeople take up a collection to send her to camp, Mike comes to terms with her own self worth.

Her dreams collide when Xanadu comes running to her when she falls out with Bailey. Mike believes this is her dream that's meant to come true.

"Far from Xanadu" is a witty and sensitive portrayal of a gay teen that cuts through all the differences between us to the single life experience that unites us -- first love.

Mike is instantly lovable and heartbreakingly realistic. Her inner dialogs are not only believable, I couldn't get them out of my head. It was so refreshing to read a book about a gay teen that didn't have to worry about being teased and abused by peers as Mike and Jamie are both accepted and loved in thier home town Coalton. (although, a little too convinient)
There are many other things going on in this book besides Mike's love/angst for Xanadu. She is dealing with her morbidly obese mother who ignores her, her emotionally distant older brother, the lost family business, being the town softball champ, her father's suicide, and her friend Jamie's new cyber love. IMHO, the author tackles all of these issues well.
There is an internal element in this book that is often missing in teen literature, adding depth and feeling that made the book stay with me.
The down-to-earth ending resolves much for Mike, but leaves some of her relationships up in the air, astonishingly like real life.

Mighty Mike Szabo is a softball champion growing up in a small Kansas town. Mike works for the feed store, drives a truck, lifts weights, and when the beautiful and exotic Xanadu moves into town, Mike falls in love with her. The only problem is that Mike is a girl and Xanadu likes boys.

Julie Anne Peters, the author of a number of critically acclaimed novels for young people, has made her reputation writing about young people struggling with sex and gender identity. FAR FROM XANADU features the life and struggles of Mike Szabo, the only lesbian in a small Kansas town.

Contrary to the popular portrayal of small towns in the Midwest, Mike's neighbors have no problem with her sexual identity. They are a highly supportive, if somewhat traditional, community who are deeply committed to Mike and her future. It is Mike, herself, who struggles with what it means to be the only lesbian in town and in love with a girl who does not return her feelings.

Peters, a Denver author, has a deft touch with the Midwestern dialect. She writes about Coalton and its inhabitants with a deep knowledge and affection for the Midwest. Her descriptions and characterizations ring true. So does her refusal to simplify FAR FROM XANADU into a simple, issue-driven, teen novel.

At its simplest FAR FROM XANADU is about unrequited love and what happens when a person falls in love with someone just slightly out of reach. While Mike's sexual identity is a big part of the story, it is not the book's exclusive focus. The best parts of the novel feature Mike's friendships with her flamboyantly gay best friend Jamie, and with the devastating Xanadu. Instead of dwelling exclusively on the external pressures Mike faces, Peters writes about Mike's internal battle for self-acceptance. As Mike says, "I just wanted to get past wishing I'd been born different, to accepting that I was. Finding the joy in that."

   --- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

This book just has so much in it. I no how Mike fells, I am going thought that too. I love how Peters what her books, i have read one other.

THis story touchs home.

I am not really good at summerizing stroys but in short, you will love this book one it just so emotinal and understand of the heart.

a must read.

This well-written story chronicles part of the coming out struggles of a teen-age lesbian in rural northwest Kansas.
Two years after her father's suicide, Mary Elizabeth (Mike) Szabo is struggling to accept herself as her family is attempting to go on without him. Her mother has withdrawn into alcoholism and gluttony. Her older brother has given up on his future. Mike rotates between being a good student, the star of the local fast-pitch softball team, and the town's most accomplished plumber.
When a gorgeous new girl joins her tenth grade biology class, it is lust at first sight. Mike quickly befriends this new girl - Xanadu - as each recognizes the other as a fellow rebel. But while Mike is out to her best friend Jamie - a very out gay boy she has known for years - she is closeted to almost everyone else.
Mike and Xanadu quickly become best friends. However, Mike's friend Jamie quickly points out that Xanadu is straight. Mike is not sure; she hopes Xanadu will recognize and accept her love.
Some adult readers may find the language offensive in a couple scenes, but it reflects language that is in common use by teens.
This is another excellent book from Julie Anne Peters.

This was just ok. I found myself struggling to get through it. I think I just never really warmed up to the characters. I hated Xanadu from the beginning, and part of me couldn't stand Mike for being so stupid about her. I could empathize with Mike, but I found I just couldn't care for her. But the plot was interesting, the small town had character and the issues, of death, responsibility, sexuality and personal identity were well done. I think after reading this I like the Order the Poison Oak better, even though this was superior writing, the characters were far more interesting in the Order of the Poison Oak.

Mike, the main character, is easy to care about. Her problems are complex and give her a lot to chew over as we get to know her: a dad who killed himself, a brother who's screwing up his life, a love for the family business, and a small town that's good to her but made her feel like a charity case. Frankly, the teen romance laid over the top of this is the least interesting part of the story.

Some aspects of the setting and plot are hard to believe. Conveniently, there seems to be one gay boy and one gay girl in this town, and they're best friends. No one is homophobic or gets in their faces about it, even though the boy is a cheerleader and the girl is a weight-lifting softball dyke. There are a few subtle signs of disapproval from adults, and that's it. In one way it's refreshing, and lets the book be about other things. In another way it's a little too good to be believed.

The plot strikes a balance among storylines about friends, family, dreams, and romance. However, Mike's refusal to believe what is right in front of her face goes on for much too long. It's a case of the reader seeing the truth long before the character, and having to wait for the character to catch up. The end featured a heart-to-heart talk between two characters who had been barely speaking to each other, and I didn't really see what had changed to make their relationship so much better all of a sudden.

So the story is somewhat predictable. The setting, while not entirely believable, is a beautiful place to hang out for awhile. Think idealized midwest, like in "Field of Dreams." And in the middle of all this, Mike and her best friend, and one or two of the other characters, do come to life.

Mike Szabo lives in small town Coalton. Life isn't great. Mike's father killed himself a few years ago, and Mike's mother is an obese shut-in. Still, Mike has a life and a routine, meeting Jamie at the Dairy Delite for Mistees and playing softball. That is, until troubled and beautiful Xanadu moves to town and turns everything upside down.

She befriends Mike and Jamie, the only two gay teenagers in the small town and the three become close....that is until Mike's growing feelings for Xanadu are unrequited and the three cannot go on just being friends.

This is a story of growing up differently from everyone else (financially and emotionally) and Mike's stuggles to belong, especially given the lack of parental support. I could feel for Mike, Xanadu, and Jamie, but found I could not support all of their decisions or the way they chose to deal with situations. A fairly entertaining, quick read.

I really enjoyed this book, being that it was not like any other of the GLBT books i have read. Jullie Anne Peters did a great job portraying the setting and the character development. I loved the book, but it was sad. It wasn't one of her best, but still pretty good.

There are a few too many convenient aspects to the plot, but overall a well done story of coming to terms with sexual identity, first love and (predictable) heartbreak. I found the character of Xanadu to be rather annoying and flat. I felt mild emotional engagement with Mike's plight & story; however, halfway through the story I was truthfully much more interested in her friendship with Jamie, and Jamie's story.

The book may have been Mike's story but by the last page I was wishing for Jamie's story, wishing that there was a book about his journey and what happens after his "moment" in this book.