SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: THE LOVE CURSE OF MELODY MCINTYRE
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.robintalley.com/
CITY: Washington
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME: SATA 340
http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=54477 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Talley
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; wife’s name Julia; children: a daughter.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Lambda Literary Foundation fellow.
AWARDS:CILIP Honour Book selection and Concorde Book Award, both 2014, and Amelia Bloomer Project listee and Rainbow List selection, both American Library Association, all for Lies We Tell Ourselves.
WRITINGS
Work represented in anthologies A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers, and Other Badass Girls, edited by Jessica Spotswood, Candlewick Press (Somerville, MA), 2016; Feral Youth, edited by Shaun David Hutchinson, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2017; All Out: The No-Longer Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages, edited by Saundra Mitchell, Harlequin Teen (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2018; and Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft, edited by Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe, Harlequin Teen (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2018.
As I Descended was adapted for audiobook, read by Amielynn Abellera, Blackstone Audio, 2016.
SIDELIGHTS
Robin Talley is an award-winning American author of young-adult novels with a primary focus on LGBTQ characters. Talley was enthusiastic about reading and writing as a child and dreamed of being a novelist. However, as a teenager, she came to the conclusion that writing was an impractical career goal. After starting her career as a communications specialist at a civil rights nonprofit organization, she gave writing a try and, before long, published her first novel. She has continued to work in the nonprofit sector while also living out her literary dream. Talley has published several young adult novels and also short story collections.
In a BookPage interview with Cat Acree, Talley remarked on dealing with strong issues in her writing: “When it comes to identity and relationships, … I definitely think these are questions that everyone has to answer for themselves. I think YA books can be a great place to address that, since a lot of teenagers (and I know I was like this) have a tendency to assume that life is all about finding the right answers to a pre-defined set of questions. I wish that were true—it would make everything a lot simpler!”
Talley’s debut young-adult novel is Lies We Tell Ourselves, set in the South in the late 1950s, during integration. High-school senior Sarah Dunbar is among eight black students who have been sent to attend Linda Hairston’s formerly all-white school, Jefferson High School. Linda resents the upset that integration has caused, as her father has written several pro-segregation articles for the local paper. Linda begins to form her own opinions, however, when she and Sarah are paired up on a school project. Their acquaintanceship gradually evolves from grudging respect, to friendship, and then to romance. Talley based the novel in part on stories her parents told about the experience of integration at their all-white Virginia high school.
Reviewers praised Lies We Tell Ourselves, with Amanda MacGregor, in the online Teen Librarian Toolbox, declaring: “To call this novel powerful is an understatement. Told in alternate narration, the views Sarah and Linda give of this time in history are poignant. The unrelenting racism and violence is difficult to read.” MacGregor went on to conclude: “Talley tackles a lot in this novel, combining history, diversity, intersectionality, GLBTQ characters, family dynamics, and so much more. In less skilled hands, it would have been overwhelming. In Talley’s hands, it’s just masterfully knit together and moving.”
Talley’s second novel, What We Left Behind, features the couple Toni and Gretchen, who have been together throughout high school and seem to have the perfect relationship. But college presents new problems for the couple, as Toni goes to Harvard and Gretchen to New York University. They are confident they can overcome the separation, but things do not turn out as they expect, for Toni, who identifies as gender-queer, becomes involved with a group of older transgender students and discovers a sense of belonging that she has heretofore missed. At the same time, Gretchen in New York is having trouble finding her own identity outside her relationship with Toni. Soon they must decide if they have really grown apart from one another or not.
Reviewing What We Left Behind in Booklist, Courtney Jones felt that Talley “continues to tackle tough issues with unvarnished honesty.” Jones further noted that “young and emerging adults will find themselves challenged and enlightened.” A Kirkus Reviews reviewer called the novel “emotionally astute, with a few gaps,” but School Library Journal writer Amanda Foulk more positively commented: “Tightly focused on Toni’s and Gretchen’s changing relationships and identities, this title is a must-read for high school Gay Straight Alliance members.”
Talley’s As I Descended is a “lesbian retelling of Macbeth set at a haunted Virginia boarding school,” as Talley described it to Acree for BookPage. The novel looks at some bad teen decision-making blended with ghosts and certain mean girls. Lily and Maria are roommates at an exclusive boarding school and are also secretly in love with one another. They both want to go to Stanford, but that can only happen if Maria wins a coveted scholarship. Her major rival, the mean-spirited Delilah, is likely to take the prize, as she does most other things at the school—including drugs she steals from disabled Lily. Their school is built on a former southern plantation rumored to be haunted, and Lily and Maria settle in one night with a Ouija board to contact spirits in hopes of derailing Delilah. However, they soon discover that they cannot control the powers they summon.
Praise for As I Descended came from Booklist writer Maggie Reagan, who called the novel an “intriguing, appropriately atmospheric take on one of Shakespeare’s most spine-tingling plays,” as well as from a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who similarly noted that the author “creates a dark and twisted gothic boarding school setting replete with vengeful spirits, drugs, and suicide in this Shakespeare inspired tragedy.” A Kirkus Reviews critic noted: “This adaptation’s bewitching intrigues and enthralling deceptions will whet the daggers of any reader’s mind.” School Library Journal contributor Amanda MacGregor also had praise, commenting: “Those familiar with the source material will not be surprised at how the story plays out, but knowing the eventual outcomes does not diminish Talley’s dark tale about fate and ambition.”
In Our Own Private Universe, Aki is fifteen and ready to stop thinking so much—in particular about her sexuality—and take action. She is pretty certain that she is bisexual but has until now only dated boys. On a summer youth trip, she meets the older, closeted Christa, and as their relationship grows stronger and more intense, Aki realizes the power of the sentiments she has been suppressing. “Talley’s latest is a sweet love story about discovering who you want to be with and, more important, who you want to be,” noted Booklist reviewer Molly Horan of Our Own Private Universe. A Kirkus Reviews critic similarly called the novel “an important and heartfelt contribution to contemporary teen lit about queer women: hopeful, realistic, and romantic, Talley’s newest is sure to satisfy.” School Library Journal writer Amy Diegelman concluded: “This pitch-perfect romance is all heart, touching on serious issues but never becoming too heavy, and will be a strong addition to any teen collection.”
In writing Pulp, Talley drew on the little-known history of cheap pulp novels with lesbian characters published in the mid-twentieth century. In the present day, high-school senior Abby returns from summer break hoping that she and onetime girlfriend Linh will get back together. She gains some perspective through a school project on 1950s lesbian fiction, especially the works of “Marian Love.” Alternating chapters tell the story of teenager Janet Jones—soon to be the pseudonymous Love—who is discovering her own sexuality through pulp novels sixty years earlier. Unfortunately, her crush, Marie, works for the federal government during the Lavender Scare, when homosexuality was condemned much like Communism during the Red Scare. With Abby and Janet both writing their own fiction, their characters’ imagined lives become part of the novel as well.
Reviewers heaped praise on Pulp, with School Library Journal reviewer Hilary St. George affirming that Talley “skillfully illustrates the fear and isolation of being a lesbian teen in unforgiving times” in Pulp, which St. George deems “a sweeping, engrossing drama full of important moments.” A Kirkus Reviews writer affirmed that “the superlative pacing will hook readers,” as “suspenseful parallel lesbian love stories deftly illuminate important events in LGBTQ history.” BookPage reviewer Heather Seggel concluded, “Pulp neatly moves between two similar girls’ very different worlds and offers a pointed reminder that history is never that far behind us.”
(open new)In Music from Another World, conservative Christian Tammy Larson is paired up with Sharon Hawkins in a pen pal assignment. The two high school seniors from different parts of California live in very different environments. While gay-rights activist Harvey Milk is inspiring many in San Francisco, Tammy’s own family is active in supporting Anita Bryant’s anti-gay rights agenda. Tammy is certain that she is gay but has nobody she can turn to for support other than Sharon. By contrast, Sharon is in a relationship with a boy but is curious about her own sexuality and is aware that her brother is gay. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews said that “this queer novel stands out thanks to the 1970s San Francisco setting and punk vibe.” Writing in School Library Journal, Shira Pilarski commented that “Talley’s detailed research is evident, and the book is historically accurate without feeling stuffy.”
With the young adult novel The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre, Talley explores a cursed performing arts program. Beaconville High School’s performing arts department is said to be cursed, with one performance of Macbeth in 1906 actually resulting in the entire auditorium being burnt down. Stage manager Melody is dumped by her girlfriend in the middle of her first production. She establishes a new superstition that if she falls in love again that year, the curse will return. As the spring production of Les Misérables draws near, bisexual Mel gets to know Odile, who is queer but still uncertain of her sexual identity. As Mel’s feelings for Odile become clearer, the threat of the school’s curse becomes real. Writing in School Library Journal, Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan observed that “the fast-paced dialogue propels the plot to a predictable but satisfying finale.” A contributor to Kirkus Reviews described the novel as being “a love letter to high school theater.”(close new)
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, July 1, 2014, Courtney Jones, review of Lies We Tell Ourselves, p. 81; August 1, 2015, Courtney Jones, review of What We Left Behind, p. 61; August 1, 2016, Maggie Reagan, review of As I Descended, p. 73; January 1, 2017, Molly Horan, review of Our Own Private Universe, p. 85; September 15, 2018, Julia Smith, review of Pulp, p. 65.
BookPage, November 1, 2018, Heather Seggel, review of Pulp, p. 44.
Bookseller, October 17, 2014, Damian Corner, review of Lies We Tell Ourselves, p. 24.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, January 1, 2015, Kate Quealy-Gainer, review of Lies We Tell Ourselves, p. 278.
Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2014, review of Lies We Tell Ourselves; August 1, 2015, review of What We Left Behind; June 15, 2016, review of As I Descended; December 1, 2016, review of Our Own Private Universe; September 15, 2018, review of Pulp; February 1, 2020, review of Music from Another World; October 1, 2020, review of The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre.
Publishers Weekly, July 11, 2016, review of As I Descended, p. 69; October 8, 2018, review of Pulp, p. 62.
School Librarian, June 22, 2015, Joy Court, review of Lies We Tell Ourselves, p. 121.
School Library Journal, July 1, 2014, Leigh Collazo, review of Lies We Tell Ourselves, p. 112; November 1, 2015, Amanda Foulk, review of What We Left Behind, p. 123; July 1, 2016, Amanda MacGregor, review of As I Descended, p. 85; February 1, 2017, Amy Diegelman, review of Our Own Private Universe, p. 107; September 1, 2018, Hillary St. George, review of Pulp, p. 123; March 1, 2020, Shira Pilarski, review of Music from Another World, p. 113; November 1, 2020, Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, review of The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre, p. 69.
ONLINE
Adventures in YA Publishing, http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/ (November 13, 2018), “Robin Talley, Author of Pulp, on Not Getting Too Far inside Her Own Head.”
BookPage Online, https://bookpage.com/ (November 17, 2015), Cat Acree, author interview; (November 13, 2018), Robin Talley, “The Unsung 1950s Genre That Changed Literature.”
CBC Diversity, http://www.cbcdiversity.com/ (November 1, 2018), author interview.
Nerd Daily, https://www.thenerddaily.com/ (December 4, 2020), author interview.
Robin Talley website, http://www.robintalley.com (January 19, 2021).
Story Sanctuary, http://thestorysanctuary.com/ (April 3, 2020), Kasey Giard, author interview.
Teen Librarian Toolbox, http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/ (September 30, 2014), Amanda MacGregor, review of Lies We Tell Ourselves.
Robin Talley is a queer author who grew up in southwest Virginia and now lives in Washington, D.C., with her wife and their kids. She did digital communications work for LGBTQ rights, women's rights, educational equity, and other progressive causes for fifteen years before she turned to writing full-time, and is now the New York Times-bestselling author of seven novels for teen readers, including The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre, Music From Another World, Pulp, and As I Descended.
Her books have won accolades including the Amnesty CILIP Honour and the Concorde Book Award, have been short-listed for the Lambda Literary Award and the CILIP Carnegie Medal, and have appeared on the Junior Library Guild, Amelia Bloomer Project, Kids' Indie Next, and ALA Rainbow lists. They've also been covered in media outlets including Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, Teen Vogue, NPR, Buzzfeed, Vulture, Huffington Post, Vice, and Bustle.
Her short stories have appeared in the young adult collections Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft, All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages, A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers and Other Badass Girls, and Feral Youth.
You can find her at www.robintalley.com, or on Twitter, Instagram, and elsewhere at @robin_talley.
Robin Talley
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Robin Talley is an American author of young adult books.
Talley has worked as a communications strategist for nonprofit organizations "focusing on educational equity, gay rights, women's rights, and beyond".[1] Her novels feature racially diverse and LGBTQ+ characters.[2]
Contents
1 Awards
2 Bibliography
2.1 Novels
2.2 Short stories
3 References
4 External links
Awards
Talley won the inaugural Amnesty CILIP Honour for her first novel, Lies We Tell Ourselves, in 2014;[3] the same novel was shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal[4] and the Lambda Literary Award.[5]
Her second novel, What We Left Behind, was included on the American Library Association's Rainbow List.[6]
Her third novel, As I Descended, was shortlisted for the 2016 Kirkus Prize.[7]
Bibliography
Novels
Lies We Tell Ourselves (Harlequin Teen, 2014)
What We Left Behind (Harlequin Teen, 2015)
As I Descended (HarperTeen, 2016)
Our Own Private Universe (Harlequin Teen, 2017)
Pulp (2018)
The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre (HarperTeen, 2020)
Short stories
A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers and Other Badass Girls (Candlewick Press, 2016)
Unable to copy bio
Alexandra Nae·Writers' Corner·December 4, 2020·4 min read
Q&A: Robin Talley, Author of ‘The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre’
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Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Nina LaCour, this #ownvoices romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley has something for everyone: backstage rendezvous, deadly props, and a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to True Love.
We chat to author Robin Talley about her latest release, The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre, as well as book recommendations, what’s next for her, and more!
Hello Robin! Welcome! Please tell us a bit about yourself.
Thanks for the welcome! I’m an author of books for teens, and anyone else who likes a good story. I identify as queer, and the stories I write are about teenagers who are themselves on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. My newest novel, The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre, will be my seventh. I live in Washington, D.C., with my wife and our two rambunctious kiddos.
What can people expect in The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre?
Love Curse is a queer rom-com set in the world of high school theater. It’s got forbidden love, backstage drama, superstitious theater nerds, copious musical references, and more than one secret rendezvous in the school tech booth.
What was your inspiration for writing The Love Curse? Was there any prompt or initial idea that urged you to write it?
This novel started out with the character of Melody McIntyre herself — she just showed up in my brain one afternoon when I was supposed to be working on another project entirely. At first all I knew about Mel was that she was extremely skilled at something, but I wasn’t sure what. When I realized she was a stage manager, and the best one in the history of her school’s performing arts department, the rest of the story very rapidly fell into place.
I adored the romance and the chemistry between Mel and Odile! How did you go about writing their characters and their relationship?
Thank you! Writing their relationship was interesting, because at the outset I knew a lot about Mel, but I didn’t know Odile nearly as well. I was getting a feel for her at the same time I was getting a feel for the way the two characters connected. The moment that made them click for me was when I envisioned their first real, meaningful conversation, when the two of them sneak out of a party, leaving their friends behind in Mel’s basement, to talk outside. It’s the first time either of them lets down their guard in the story, and soon, without meaning to, they’re both opening up, sharing the kind of stuff they never tell people. Once I could see that scene clearly in my head, their dynamic made total sense me. They’re both used to keeping their feelings to themselves, but they also trust each other instinctively.
What were the most memorable things for you when you wrote The Love Curse?
The research! A big part of my preparation for this book involved going to see local high school and youth theater productions. I went to ten different musicals, from Bye Bye Birdie to Floyd Collins, and at each of them I got to take in the atmosphere, analyze the on-stage action, and sneak looks at the tech booth and backstage goings-on. I made up entire stories in my head about the kids at each show based on the way they smiled during curtain calls or who they thanked in their program bios. I’ve never had so much fun researching a book.
Were there any scenes or parts that didn’t make it to the final version of the book? Or were there any scenes or parts that you thought about adding?
Oh yes, this book changed a lot in the revision process. One sequence that I cut involved Mel accompanying Odile to a red-carpet movie premiere. It absolutely didn’t fit in the final version of the story, but I was sad to lose the makeout scene in the swanky hotel elevator, and the afterparty with Leonardo DiCaprio.
See also
Sophie Gonzales Author Interview
Writers' Corner
Q&A: Sophie Gonzales, Author of ‘Only Mostly Devastated’
If you were Mel, would you have agreed with your love life being the subject of the theater’s superstition that year?
Ha! Well, let’s just say I’m not nearly as superstitious as Mel and her crew. Thankfully.
I loved the fact that this book has some casual queer representation, but you also highlighted a few of the struggles queer people go through. Do you think it’s important that we see more of that balance in books and other media?
For sure. I’ve written books that focus more heavily on the struggle, some a lot more heavily, and I definitely think that’s important to reflect, particularly for readers facing challenges due to their own identities. And I also think there’s a place for stories about LGBTQ+ people who are simply living their lives. For one thing, it’s an escape from the burdens of the real world — but also, because we’re lucky enough to live in the time we do, it also is the reality for some teens, like Mel, who’ve been fortunate enough to grow up knowing that they’re welcome in their families and communities regardless of who they are or who they love. So I think that’s important to reflect, too.
What other queer books do you recommend for us right now?
My favorite question! Here are some recent reads I’ve savored: Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian, The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender, Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, and You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson.
What’s next for you? Do you have any upcoming projects or books we can look forward to?
I’m working on a new project now, but although I’m not as superstitious as Mel, I am superstitious about giving too much away this time since a lot could still wind up changing. But stay tuned!
Will you be picking up The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre? Tell us in the comments below!
Review and Author Q&A: Music From Another Word by Robin Talley
By Kasey Giard | April 3, 2020 | Author Interview, Book Review and Content, Historical, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18
Music from Another World by Robin Talley
Music From Another World
Robin Talley
Inkyard Press
Published March 31, 2020
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads
About Music From Another World
It’s summer 1977 and closeted lesbian Tammy Larson can’t be herself anywhere. Not at her strict Christian high school, not at her conservative Orange County church and certainly not at home, where her ultrareligious aunt relentlessly organizes antigay political campaigns. Tammy’s only outlet is writing secret letters in her diary to gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk…until she’s matched with a real-life pen pal who changes everything.
Sharon Hawkins bonds with Tammy over punk music and carefully shared secrets, and soon their letters become the one place she can be honest. The rest of her life in San Francisco is full of lies. The kind she tells for others–like helping her gay brother hide the truth from their mom–and the kind she tells herself. But as antigay fervor in America reaches a frightening new pitch, Sharon and Tammy must rely on their long-distance friendship to discover their deeply personal truths, what they’ll stand for…and who they’ll rise against.
A master of award-winning queer historical fiction, New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley once again brings to life with heart and vivid detail an emotionally captivating story about the lives of two teen girls living in an age when just being yourself was an incredible act of bravery.
Music From Another World on Goodreads
My Review
So by now you probably know I LOVE books about music, and I have a particular soft spot for punk. I also found myself drawn to the historical aspect of MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD, too, as I’m not familiar with very much of what happened in the 1970s.
The story is told entirely in diary entries and letters that Tammy and Sharon write to each other. In the diary entries, they often report things they aren’t ready to tell each other, or things that happen to both of them together. I liked the format and felt like it made things really personal. I felt like I could watch their friendship grow and its affect on their diary entries and feelings of isolation.
Both Tammy and Sharon belong to conservative Christian schools and communities and wrestle with feeling like they don’t belong. Tammy believes if she ever tells the truth about who she is (that she’s gay), she’ll be cast out of her family and community. Sharon worries for the same about her brother, who’s also gay.
This story hit me pretty hard. I grew up in a conservative Christian community (and still live in the town where I grew up), and I’ve wondered before about what it would be like to come out to that group of people. I think there would have been talk of conversion therapy, not by my parents, but by some of their friends and church members. My parents wouldn’t have stopped speaking to me or kicked me out. That’s just not how they operate. But it would have cost me most (if not all) of the contact I had with my faith community, and that would have been really painful and difficult.
I grew up with a girl who came out to her parents and lost her relationships with them. They haven’t spoken to her in years. They didn’t even try to contact her after the Pulse shooting to see if she was okay, and I can’t even imagine how hurtful that is.
Anyway, I guess reading this book, not only did I connect with Tammy and Sharon and everything they went through, I guess I pictured the faces of my friends, and it made me think about what it was like– even decades later than this book takes place– to grow up in a conservative church and be gay.
I really enjoyed the book, both for the emotional journeys that it brought me on and for the really fun punk scene (Midge Spelling is my favorite!).
I think fans of THE SCAR BOYS by Len Vlahos or I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE by Stephanie Kuehnert would really enjoy the music scene in this book and its effect on the characters.
Check out the Q&A with Robin Talley after the content notes!
Music From Another World on Amazon
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation
Multiple characters are gay.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used fairly frequently.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl, references to making out. Reference to oral sex. Kissing between same sex couples.
Spiritual Content
Both Tammy and Sharon are part of conservative Christian churches which believe that being gay is a sin. They come across as dogmatic, angry, and manipulative. One church leader gets caught in an affair and embezzling money from a charity.
Violent Content
Some references to fights during punk shows.
Drug Content
Teens drinking alcohol.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD in exchange for my honest review.
Q&A with Author Robin Talley
Robin Talley credit Courtney Rae Rawls
Q: What is your favorite thing about Tammy or Sharon?
A: I love the close connection between Sharon and her brother, Peter. That was another element of the story that came to me very early and was crucial in how I envisioned the characters’ lives. They’re siblings and best friends who know exactly how to get on each other’s nerves when they want to, but when it comes down to it, they’ll do absolutely anything for each other.
Q: Are there any parts of Tammy and Sharon’s lives that reflect your own?
A: Their lives are pretty different from mine — for one thing, I wasn’t born yet when their story takes place, and I’ve always lived on the East Coast. I did grow up in a more right-wing community than I live in now, though, and I was part of a pretty conservative church community there. Though my church wasn’t politically active, thank goodness.
Q: How did you come up with the letters to Harvey?
A: From the beginning, my very first kernel of the idea that led to this book was the image of Tammy in her church basement, writing a secret letter to Harvey Milk while around her, everyone she knew was celebrating the victory of Christian singer and TV commercial star Anita Bryant’s campaign to overturn a gay rights law in Miami. I imagined Tammy surrounded by people, but still completely isolated, and reaching out to the only person she’d ever heard of who she thought might be able to understand how she felt. At that time, Harvey was getting a lot of media attention nationwide as one of the most outspoken gay rights activists (he also served as a convenient bogeyman for anti-gay right-wing activists).
Q: What inspired you to write in the Harvey Milk era?
A: The history of activism for LGBTQ equality has always been a big interest of mine. Before Music From Another World I’d written two books that both focused on queer characters living in the 1950s, when being a member of that community meant, almost by default, being closeted. I wanted to explore a later era when, for the first time, some LGBTQ people began to see coming out as a real option — but an option with consequences that could be catastrophic. The late 1970s was also when the anti-gay community first started to emerge as a major political player, so that was interesting to explore as well.
Q: What was the most difficult part of the story to write, and why did you feel it was important to include that part?
A: I had a lot of trouble writing some of the things that happen to Tammy near the story’s midpoint (trying to be vague here to avoid spoilers). I hate to ever write about the characters that I care about experiencing anything negative, but the reality of the situation required it. The stakes Tammy faced were simply too high.
Q: How do you balance the intensity of the time period and subject with the love story?
A: That’s just the thing — we’re all living our lives against the backdrop of history, one way or another. We’re living through an incredibly turbulent time in the world right now, just like Sharon and Tammy were in the late 1970s, but people are still going to school, fighting with their parents, getting their first jobs, etc. And, yes, falling in love. For all of us, just like for these characters, we have to figure out how the minutiae of day to day life (and sometimes the drama of it) fits in with the bigger picture, and not lose sight of the contributions we make to the larger world, too.
Q: What is one thing you hope readers take away from MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD?
A: I hope they’ll go on to read more on their own about the events that followed the end of this story. There were a ton of both highs and lows in the movement for LGBTQ rights, and although this story focuses largely on 1978’s Proposition 6 in California, also known as the Briggs Initiative, that was just one campaign out of a much larger movement, and it was the larger movement that laid the foundation for events that we’re still seeing play out today.
Talley, Robin THE LOVE CURSE OF MELODY MCINTYRE HarperTeen (Teen None) $17.99 12, 1 ISBN: 978-0-06-240926-3
When the crew tells their stage manager, Melody, that her dating life triggers a theater curse, she attempts to avoid relationships.
Beaconville High School’s performing arts department believes in curses. After two catastrophic performances of Macbeth, including one in 1906 that burned down the whole building, the cast and crew strictly follow all standard theater superstitions. They also decide to create a new superstition for each show. During Mel’s first full show as stage manager, everything is going well until her girlfriend publicly dumps her midplay. Embarrassed but committed to the process because she’ll do anything to make sure the spring musical goes off without a hitch, Mel agrees that the superstition for Les Misérables will be her refraining from falling in love. And she’s feeling confident in her ability to stay single until she begins talking to Odile, one of the stars of the show. Mel is bisexual, Odile is questioning her identity but knows she is queer; both are White. The book is structured like a play with a prologue, scenes, and an epilogue, and the pacing is well done with a good mix of humor and romance. The sheer volume of rules that are described as being “the first rule of theater” is both confusing and amusing, but theater jargon is well explained in context, so even nontechs can enjoy this novel.
A love letter to high school theater. (Fiction. 14-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Talley, Robin: THE LOVE CURSE OF MELODY MCINTYRE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2020, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A636727025/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=764c96f4. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.
TALLEY, Robin. The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre. 464p. HarperTeen. Dec. 2020. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780062409263.
Gr 9 Up--When the Beaconville High School Performing Arts Department announces Les Miserables as its spring musical, stage manager Mel is ecstatic. However, whenever she becomes involved with anyone during the production of a show, a curse seems to plague the performance. So when her fellow techies suggest that she refrain from any romantic entanglements as they stage the musical, Mel finds herself in a bind, as she is attracted to Odile Rose. Only when tech director Will explains the foolishness of believing in curses does Mel resist peer pressure and stage a dramatic "promposal" at the opening night curtain call, thereby publicly declaring her relationship with her actress girlfriend. Drama abounds--onstage and off--in this spirited tale of high school love and angst. As in Talley's other novels, gay and bi relationships are accepted as "just part of life" by kids and adults (Mel has two dads, Will is openly gay), allowing the characters to freely discuss their romantic inclinations without backlash, and ethnic and racial diversity is the norm (Mel and Odile are white, Will is Black, and other characters are of various backgrounds). Theatrical jargon is generally explained in context, although "catwalk" is misidentified as a "narrow stretch of wire." References to Broadway shows, theatrical traditions, and professional-level rehearsal procedures abound, especially in the "Stage Management notes" following each chapter-intriguing for aficionados and instructive for neophytes. The fast-paced dialogue propels the plot to a predictable but satisfying finale. VERDICT An ultra-modern fiesta of theatrical joie de vivre for high school readers.--Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, formerly at LaSalle Academy, Providence
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Menaldi-Scanlan, Nancy. "TALLEY, Robin. The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre." School Library Journal, vol. 66, no. 11, Nov. 2020, p. 69. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A640013024/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=20be136a. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.
TALLEY, Robin. Music from Another World. 384p. Inkyard. Mar. 2020. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781335146779.
Gr 8 Up--The framing device for this split-narrative epistolary story is that two teenage girls in California are assigned to write to one another through their Christian schools' pen pal program in the summer of 1977. Tammy lives in conservative Orange County and is terrified of what will happen if her family finds out she's a lesbian. Coerced by her Aunt Mandy, a religious leader and powerhouse in the anti-gay movement, Tammy begrudgingly sends mailers promoting Anita Bryant's Save Our Children campaign. Her only solace is listening to Patti Smith records and writing diary-like letters to Harvey Milk that she never sends. Sharon lives in San Francisco in Dan White's predominantly white, religious, anti-gay district. Introduced to the Castro neighborhood by her gay brother, heterosexual Sharon begins volunteering at a feminist bookstore and going to punk shows. Tammy and Sharon's letters are cautious at first, but eventually they realize just how much they have in common and become close. Outed by a girl in her school, Tammy runs away to San Francisco, where Sharon has to reconcile her conception of her quiet pen pal with the outgoing, charismatic Tammy. As the girls get to know one another in real life, Sharon begins to realize sexual orientation is not as rigid as she once believed. Tammy and Sharon are white; the friends they make in the Castro are racially diverse. VERDICT Talley's detailed research is evident, and the book is historically accurate without feeling stuffy. Recommended for all teen collections.--Shira Pilarski, Farmington Community Library, MI
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Pilarski, Shira. "TALLEY, Robin. Music from Another World." School Library Journal, vol. 66, no. 3, Mar. 2020, p. 113. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A616314267/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e565e39d. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.
Talley, Robin MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD Inkyard Press (Young Adult Fiction) $18.99 3, 31 ISBN: 978-1-335-14677-9
As the national gay rights battle heats up in the summer of 1977, two high school girls from disparate California communities are paired in a pen pal assignment.
Tammy Larson is from a conservative Christian community in Orange County. She is forced by her family to participate in activities in support of Anita Bryant's anti-gay rights crusade in Florida. Tammy knows she is gay and fears the wrath of her Aunt Mandy, a church leader. Sharon Hawkins lives with her mother and brother in San Francisco. She is keeping her brother's gay identity a secret while also trying to figure out her feelings for her boyfriend--and for girls. The book's structure includes Tammy's and Sharon's letters interspersed with Sharon's diary entries and Tammy's unmailed letters to her idol, gay rights leader Harvey Milk. The girls' growing trust in each other makes Sharon's home the logical place for Tammy to flee following a crisis at home. The author expertly brings to life the pre-AIDS world of San Francisco's gay neighborhoods, the vitality of the nascent gay rights movement (including welcome details about the often overlooked lesbian community), and the punk rock scene. The book's strengths include good pacing, a respectful acknowledgment of bisexuality, and satisfying personal and political denouements. Both girls are white; there is ethnic diversity in secondary characters.
This queer novel stands out thanks to the 1970s San Francisco setting and punk vibe. (Historical fiction. 13-18)
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"Talley, Robin: MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2020. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A612619142/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=16930ee6. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.