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When Mary-Elizabeth “Mike” Szabo’s father committed suicide two years ago,
something inside her died, too. Mike’s dad always encouraged her to follow her
dreams—her dreams of becoming a pro softball player and of one day taking over the family
plumbing business. But Mike’s dreams died with her father, and she finds herself just
going through the motions. She goes to school. She plays softball. She works at the
Mercantile. She hangs out with her friend, Jamie. And she trudges through life with her
worthless brother and her obese mother, who hasn’t said a word to Mike since the day of
the funeral.
But all that changes when a mysterious redhead walks into
Mike’s geometry class one morning. Xanadu is gorgeous, and she’s got a few dark secrets
in her past—which is why her parents sent her to live on her aunt and uncle’s farm. Mike
instantly falls in love with Xanadu, but she’s afraid to admit her feelings, since Xanadu
is obviously straight—and head-over-heels for Bailey McCall.
Everything
changes once Xanadu shows up. While Mike agonizes over her feelings for her new best
friend, she also begins to face her future. Her softball coach starts digging up Mike’s
long-buried dreams with talk of softball camp and college scholarships and going pro—and
no matter how much Mike tries to ignore her future and her chance to succeed, the rest of
the town won’t let her.
Far from Xanadu is a well-written, moving
novel that does an excellent job of focusing on gay characters without alienating
straight readers. Mike is more than just a gay teenager—she’s every teenager.
She struggles with her identity and with feelings she doesn’t exactly understand. And
her story brings back powerful memories of teenage uncertainty and high school
crushes—those intense, one-sided relationships with someone who barely knows you exist.
It may be the story of a gay teen, but gay and straight readers alike will be able to
relate to Mike—to her dreams, her fears, and the excruciating pain of unrequited love.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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