I struggle with how to rate or explain my feelings towards this book. Which is mostly because I started reading it in April while I was still somewhat burnt out from everything that is 2020 and then didn't read it or anything else for a full three months.

The two things I enjoyed the most about the novel, and are the reasons I recommend it if it sounds like your thing, are 1. the setting, which is in amidst the queer rights movement during the Harvey Milk era, and 2. is the representation of someone who assumed they were straight only because they hadn't thought about the possibility of being anything but, but through interactions with the queer community, second guesses that initial assumption and comes into their own queer identity. While it's not exactly how it worked for me, it's the closest to my journey that I've read.

I found that the epistolary format made the book very hard/slow to read, and I don't know if it's because it was all letters (my favourite book of all time is epistolary, but there are 1st person chapters thrown in throughout), or if it was how the letters bled into a very descriptive 1st person narrative, and therefore wasn't really either, but the writing style did not work for me.

My only other not-quite-qualm, more like mild disappointment, with the book, is that for how much the description espoused the San Francisco punk scene, I kind of wish there had been more of it? I loved the scenes that were in the book, but I would have been okay with at least 50 more pages to have fleshed it out a bit more.

All in all it made for a reading experience that for me was 'fine' but nothing special.

Ok, I was so excited to read this book but the formatting was messed up on my Kindle and I just can't concentrate with it like that. The little bit that I read was amazing.

I enjoyed reading several aspects of this book! The pacing was wonderful, characters were well drawn, and the reading experience on the whole was delightful.

What a tender depiction of love and self acceptance. This was a great historical novel about a time and place that isn’t examined in young adult novels often. It’s hopeful without being unrealistic.

I can't remember when's the last time I read a story that had me crying buckets. I'll admit that I don't know much about LGBTQ+ history or who Harvey Milk is, but a quick search on Google helped fill in the gaps, though it's not necessary to read this book. Music from Another World by Robin Talley follows a friendship between Tammy and Sharon. Both girls carry a heavy secret and come from deeply religious families. Their stories are told through letters and journal entries. Brought together by a pen pal project, Tammy and Sharon develop a friendship that spans the state of California. Tammy, a closeted Lesbian teen, writes unsent letters to Harvey Milk, who at this time is fighting for gay rights in California. Sharon, on the other hand, uses her diary to voice her inner thoughts and demons. She also bears the burden of her brother's secret; spoiler alert: he's gay. Tammy and Sharon confide in each other and come to depend on each other's friendship. The girls bond over similar interests, like punk music and Patti Smith, while divulging life-shattering secrets. Before this book, I have not read any of Robin Talley's books, but I was pulled into her story. Music From Another World is full of heartbreak and anguish, (not angst), but actual anguish. Both girls have well-rounded, but distinct personalities. While this is a work of fiction with historical elements, Talley's storytelling is realistic. The thoughts and feelings of Tammy and Sharon are told in a way that reflects their hopes and dreams, but also their fears about the trajectory of their futures. The atmosphere of anti-gay sentiments not dulled and realistically described; Talley's approach reflects the hate against and fears of the LGBTQ+ communities during an uncertain time. I don't normally read too many historical LGBTQ+ fiction titles, but I'm glad I picked this one up.

I always appreciate a good queer book, and Talley never fails to deliver. I loved the idea of Sharon and Tammy meeting as pen pals, and the time period was a fantastic background for their story. Name-dropping Harvey Milk and Anita Bryant, throwing in the Punk scene, feminism, and scary religious family members - all of these made this novel a quick and compelling read for me. On the other hand, I struggled a bit, especially at the beginning, with distinguishing the two main characters - there wasn't enough of a difference in their "voice" as they wrote.

RATING: 4 STARS
2020; Inkyard Press

I loved the cover art of Music from Another World. Most of Robin Talley's novels have gorgeous covers so it makes me want to read them all. Two young teens in California, in the late 1970s are stuck between faith of their family and expressing who they are and being happy. Sharon lives in San Fransisco with her single mother and older brother. Tammy is from Orange County, and lives with her large extended family. The two are matched for a pen pal project through their separate religious schools. This project is to help them learn about one another and their faith and family.

Tammy is from a highly religious family, where her uncle is a pastor. Her aunt, the pastor's wife, is looking for fame and fortune and finds it through having her family fight against the "militant" homosexuals. Little does the aunt know that Tammy is a lesbian. She needs to keep her sexual orientation a secret so writes her secrets and thoughts to Harvey Milk in a diary. Sharon mother also believes homosexuality is a sin. Sharon and Peter must keep Peter's sexual orientation a secret as well. When Anita Bryant has a big win in Florida, Tammy's aunt and uncle rev up their "cause" to get more donations and air time. Tammy's aunt is looking to be like Bryant, and not just helping the cause. Peter starts to attend the protests, as does Sharon. As everyone in California is starting to take sides and come "out" for the cause, Tammy and Sharon start to wonder what is important to them.

I feel like this is a book that Judy Blume could have written...it feels like her novels, Forever and Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, but a bit more modern. It is well written and researched. You can sense the time and all that was going on at that time. Yet Tammy and Sharon's concerns could be in any decade. I think that is is an important novel for teens but also adults - parents or not.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

his just incorporated so many things that I love reading about. Tammy and Sharon live in different parts of California but are paired up as pen pals for a school assignment. They’re supposed to ask some basic questions to get to know one another. But their letters end up blossoming into a deep friendship. However, they haven’t told each other the full truth yet. Tammy is a closeted lesbian in an extremely religious family and Sharon is learning about the gay community in San Francisco through her brother Peter. What will happen when they truly open up to one another? I just enjoyed this so much. Especially how much actual queer history was incorporated.

i have always wanted a pen pal. i find the idea of writing back and forth with someone you’ve never met, and fully trusting them with stuff you wouldn’t even tell your closest friends really exciting. in this book, we learn about tammy and sharon’s struggles of growing up gay in an religious environment through the letters they write to each other through the pen pal programme they sign up for.

i loved seeing tammy and sharon slowly bond over time. it was such a beautiful process – at first, the both of them write to each other simply for the sake of answering their assigned questions, and gradually, their conversation blossoms into meaningful discussions about punk music and their deepest secrets. i loved their pledge to be 100% honest to each other in the letters, and it’s amazing that although they cannot confide in the people around them, they have each other.

i believe in god, and i’m also a great supporter of lgbtq+ rights, so i related to both tammy and sharon’s experiences of dealing with people at church who have opposing beliefs. i absolutely despised tammy’s aunt, and i felt so frustrated seeing her use religion as an excuse for personal prejudices. on the other hand, seeing activists like harvey milk and the girls from the feminist bookstore join hands to fight for gay rights made me so happy and hopeful.

to conclude, music from another world is a story about acceptance, activism and love. some parts were upsetting to read, but the ending’s so incredibly hopeful. if you’re a fan of nancy garden’s annie on my mind, you’d enjoy this book for sure.

trigger warnings: outing without permission, homophobia
rep: gay, lesbian, bisexual

I love Talley's work and whether it is a romance or a mystery, I know that I will enjoy the journey she will take us on. This one, set in California, is another historical lesbian romance. Readers are transported into the moment of Anita Bryant's victory in the "Save the Children Campaign," through Harvey Milk's campaign to become city supervisor, and to the Briggs initiative. We navigate this world through a mix of traditional fiction and epistolary novel as teenage pen pals Tammy and Sharon write to each other about their respective lives. Tammy knows she is a lesbian and struggles with the fact that she has been forced to help her church in their anti-gay, Anita-Bryant-supporting efforts. Sharon is struggling to fully support her gay brother and learning to come into her own thanks to San Francisco's burgeoning punk scene. While it is punk that connects the two strangers, they forge a stronger bond with each letter until... Well, I guess you have to read the book to find out.

Tammy Larson is stuck inside herself. A member of a conservative Christian High school and church in Orange County, California in 1977, she's constantly making herself small in fear that someone will figure out she is a closeted lesbian. While her family gathers to organize for antigay political campaigns and protests, Tammy secrets writes a journal dedicated to gay advocate Harvey Milk of San Francisco. Her school requires a summer project, matching Tammy with a penpal at a Catholic school in San Francisco.  Tammy meets Sharon Hawkins, a teenager who has a gay brother and is pretty sure she is as well. Soon, their letters become the one place they can be themselves. They will use this new found freedom to stand up for who they are.

For readers looking for queer historical fiction that doesn't disappoint, I wholeheartedly recommend Robin Talley's Music from Another World.  While people of the LGBTQIA+ community have many more freedoms today than the 1970's, there is still a long way to go. Tammy's letter to Harvey Milk are heartbreaking, especially as she desperately searched for a way to be herself while constantly being told that her beliefs are evil. Sharon's descriptions of protests in San Francisco set a scene for fairly recent history in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Music from Another World is a smart read, and it's nice to be able to make a recommendation for readers who aren't seeing themselves represented in young adult literature.

Music from Another World is available now from Inkyard Press.

At first it was a little difficult for me to get into the book, but the moment it caught me i just couldn't let it go. Both, Tammy and Sharon, were such lovable characters, each on their own way. The book made laugh, made me cry (a lot) and overall it's by far the best book i've read this year so far. Beautiful, full of heart and sentiment.
It is the first book i read by the author but i'm sure will be reading more because this one just owned my heart.

Set during the late 70’s, Music From Another World is a beautifully hopeful book told through letters and diary entries. I absolutely love epistolary novels, it’s such a fun way to get to know characters and I love the way we get a look into the characters thoughts through their own words.

Sharron and Tammy become pen pals through a school program in which they are supposed to write to each other over the summer and then complete a report summarizing their experience when they return to school the next year. Sharon lives with her mother and brother. Her mom is a teacher at her Christian school and her brother has recently told Sharron that he is gay. Though Sharron wasn’t sure what to think at first, she has come around to the idea, but they are both still keeping the secret from their mother. Tammy also lives in a conservative household. Her aunt and uncle run a well known church and though Tammy no longer believes in god, she is forced to hide that and the fact that she is lesbian from her family while stuffing envelopes with brochures denouncing homosexuals.

In Tammy’s diary entries she writes to Harvey Milk, expressing how much she looks up to him and telling him her feelings on the secrets she must keep from her family. While Harvey is on the peripheral in Tammy’s life, Sharron’s brother Peter takes her to a rally where Harvey Milk is speaking and she feels a rush like never before. Sharron also begins exploring punk music and starts to see life outside her small comfort zone. She and Tammy bond over this love of punk music and begin connecting even more as they share secrets. Both girls live in worlds where they feel out of place and like they don’t really belong. Through their letters back and forth, the girls realize they can confide in each other. They make a pact to be honest in their letters, never crossing anything out or going back and rewriting, and to keep all secrets.

This was such a moving, historical fiction book. It tells the story in a way that keeps you turning the pages while also making you want to reach through the book and hug the characters and tell them everything will be ok. It’s amazing how far we have come with gay rights, but it also made me pause and notice how far we still have to go. I love how brave and wonderful these characters are at such a young age and it left me feeling hopeful.

Thank you so much to Inkyard Press for sending me a copy of this book for review!

This was a really good, heartfelt story.

It was wonderfully vivid in its sense of the time period it was set in and the epistolary format was a lot of fun.

Additionally, it lacked some of the more uncomfortable angst that took the edge off my enjoyment of Talley's other LGBT hist-fic, <i>Pulp</i>. Having said that, there are of course hard and uncomfortable things, like religious anti-gay sentiment, parental rejection, and bullying.

But the overall feeling was one of hope, of a young generation standing at the brink of monumental social change.

I look forward to seeing what Talley does next.

For me, YA fiction can be hit or miss, but Music from Another World hits that perfect sweet spot of addressing serious issues (sexuality, identity, choice, love, freedom) in a way that doesn't dumb down the issues, giving breath and levity to a topic not often discussed in YA literature or even literature at all: the founding of the gay rights movement in 1970s California, and how it impacted the lives of teenagers living through it. Both Tammy and Sharon were well developed characters that I cared about greatly, especially towards the end when the plot builds up. I liked that Talley was able to keep each their own separate character, and was able to address how coming out and figuring out one's sexuality is very different for every individual through their two stories'. The side characters - Sharon's brother, Peter, the girls at the feminist bookstore, the inclusion of Harvey Milk and how Tammy writes to him, and even the girls families' - were all fleshed out well, too. The letter/diary format initially took some getting used to, but I loved it by the end -- it added emotional depth to the story that otherwise would have probably been missed if written in traditional first or third person narration. And that ending! So good. Realistic, heartfelt, hopeful - this is a great addition to YA historical fiction, and I'm looking forward to adding a finished copy to my shelves.

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 20 years 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.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

In the late 1970s, the gay rights movement was getting underway, with cities like San Francisco leading the way. Harvey Milk’s election as city supervisor (1978) catalyzed a generation of LGBTQ youth and their allies, while in other parts of the country Anita Bryant was campaigning for anti-gay laws. The punk music movement was in full swing, giving voice to the chaos and rage many of these young people felt.

Into this world come two young women, high school students at extremely conservative schools. A summer program pairs Sharon, a Catholic from San Francisco, with Tammy, a Baptist from Orange County. Each harbors a secret she dare not let her homophobic parents know: Sharon’s twin brother is gay, as is Tammy herself. Gradually, through diaries and their correspondence, the girls discover the courage to fight free of the homophobia, repression, and secrecy of their lives. Matters come to a head when Tammy is outed and flees to San Francisco. Under a pretext, she and Sharon convinced Sharon’s mother to let her stay with them. Here she’s caught up in the Castro Street scene and a radically, woman-owned bookstore. Tammy and Sharon find that adjusting to in-person intimacy is very different from the openness they enjoyed in their letters.

So much of this book evoked memories for me. I wasn’t in San Francisco when the story takes place, but my sister was. We both frequented book stores like the one in the story; we both knew people struggling with their sexual orientation, with the condemnation of their families. We knew the fear of bigotry such as Bryant’s and the exhilaration of Milk’s election. That said, we were both older, and Tammy and Sharon are still teens. The teen years are agonizing enough without issues of identity and the terror of being sent to a conversion camp or being rejected by family and friends. It was no wonder gay teens had such a high risk of suicide. But this story is filled with hope, too. The love and support of some friends and some family, and the riotous energy of the music, and the deep friendship between the two girls is a message of hope.

Nowadays it’s all too easy to look back on “those terrible times,” as if they will never happen again. That’s a false confidence, as daily news stories remind us. The eternal vigilance that is the price of freedom means that books like this one have enduring value. Even in “enlightened” times, there are teens who struggle, who come to loathe and even destroy themselves, because of isolation and hatred. I would love to give each one of them this book, with the message, “It Gets Better.”

The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to say anything in particular about it. Although, come to think of it, fine imported chocolates and roses might have been nice.

I am honestly not completely sure where I land with this one. This is my second Robin Talley novel, I read Pulp in 2018, and she definitely has a lane that is very interesting. The chance to experience the lesbian experience in different historical contexts, and I thought the setting of California in the late 70's as the queer activist movement was picking up steam with the election of Harvey Milk and Anita Bryant's attempts to save the soul of America was nice. Very refreshing to read a queer historical book that isn't about AIDS. And Talley's characters are always so warm.

Now some things that I didn't love as much:

1) I thought the characters cursed more than might have been appropriate, at least for the types of people Talley was painting.
2) Tammy's Aunt Mandy was cartoonishly villainish.
*Disclaimer: Before you hate on me for this last point, know that I am a gay man.
3) I wish Sharon would have stayed straight. I love that we got a bisexual character because that part of the community is often underserved, and I appreciated that there was some (albeit very brief) conversation about biphobia in the community. HOWEVER, I think the novel would have been better served if Sharon could have stayed an ally.

Despite some anachronisms and some of the cheesier side of YA romance and teen drama, I really did like this one. Talley is one of the few authors in the game writing mainstream lesbian romance, and I love that she works so much in the context of queer people in history.

Robin Talley is one of the premier YA authors of LGBTQ+ novels and has made something of a niche for herself by placing these stories in well-researched historical settings. Her latest is set in late 70’s California, mainly San Francisco, and niftily uses the story of two young women to show this pivotal time in queer history from a female perspective. It particularly resonated with me as I was a similar age as the main characters at that time and also found my identity (albeit a different one) through the punk music they both love.

During the summer of 1977 white high schoolers Tammy and Sharon are assigned to become pen pals by their Christian schools. Tammy is a deeply closeted lesbian living in conservative Orange County with her hardcore and homophobic religious family. Sharon lives in a Catholic area of San Francisco with her rather checked out mother and her gay (but known only to her) brother.

The novel opens with the Anita Bryant-led repeal of the anti-discrimination ordinance in Florida and closes with the massive 1978 defeat in California of the Briggs initiative (seeking to ban gays and lesbians from working in California’s public schools). During this year, the coming out (pun intended) of the gay rights movement and the shifting of public attitudes is shown through Tammy and Sharon and those around them. Maybe because it’s mostly set in San Francisco, the novel does take a somewhat rosy-eyed view of what being gay or lesbian in the 1970’s meant.

At first the young women stick to the anodyne questions of their pen-pal program, but later, as they come to feel close, they share more intimate confidences. Sharon starts going to punk concerts and meets cool feminists as well as going to the Castro with her brother to support gay rights. Tammy starts a relationship with another girl at school and inspired by Patti Smith, starts recognizing her anger at the conformity the world imposes.

As well as their letters to each other, both young women write diaries. Tammy writes hers as a letter to Harvey Milk, Sharon’s is a more traditional one. These narrative devices feel a little contrived, particularly when they are writing to each other despite living in the same house, and I didn’t find the voices particularly well-differentiated.

These minor quibbles aside, I found myself thoroughly engrossed by Tammy and Sharon’s different journeys to self-discovery about their identities and their sexuality through music, through their writing, and through their relationship.

Thanks to Inkyard Press and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

MHO: MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD
Music From Another World follows two girls in two vastly different families and communities as they come of age in the summer of Harvey Milk in California.

I really appreciate that each journal entry begins and ends differently so you can easily track who’s who in the beginning and just get into the flow easier.

The romance is the slowest burn of friends to lovers and it’s all very chaste.

Tammy and Sharon and Peter and the feminist bookshop crew and the punk clubs are all so amazing. I was swept up with them and finished this so quickly. My heart was in my throat for the last quarter of the book, I swear.

I love Talley’s acknowledgements about how this book came to be. This feels so right and important at the moment, to show it’s always been a fight of ups and downs, illustrating truly how far we’ve come and rejuvenating for the next battle.

The talk of how unfathomable it was then that mom could love her gay son wrecked me.

Amazing stylized for the Layaway dragon theme.

five-stars

This is the first book I’ve actually read by Talley, though several are on my virtual and literal to be read shelves. I’m now more motivated than ever to tackle her backlist.