Deliver Us from Evie

This is a short novel written by M. E. Kerr.

A life in rural middle America on your own farm as one of a dying breed of independent owners is a life that many parents think is an ideal place and way to raise their children. Often those same children think that they are in pergatory and can't wait to get away, preferably to 'the city' and a real life. This book explores not only this basic background but also the real and perceived prejudices toward gay and lesbian feelings, including the idea that any person who has those feelings only needs a really good heterosexual experience to prove that they aren't homosexual.

Evie is the older sister of a teenage boy named Parr who is the narrator. They come from a rural family who own and work a farm. He observes his sister as she emerges from the closet as a homosexual knowing that she has always been "different" from the other girls. Their mother is constantly trying to get Evie to wear more feminine clothes rather than the masculine clothes that she favors. But Evie says that this is the way she is and she just can't be any different because that wouldn't be real. She begins to have an affair with the bank president's daughter who is currently attending an exclusive boarding school, so they get together whenever Evie can take the time to visit her or when Patsy comes home for school breaks. Parr recognizes that Evie has a crush on Patsy because he has a crush on Angel. He helps Evie by picking up the mail and delivering her mail from Patsy to her room rather than leaving it out for the rest of the family to see. Parr and their mother accept Evie's sexual orientation but quickly discover that their father and the rest of the small town are very homophobic and many feel that she made a choice that she can change when she passes the 'phase' that she's going through and until then, the whole family is treated like they are bad and that it is all Evie's fault that everything has happened. Kerr managed to capture the emotions of all the people in this small town. She didn't limit herself to just the main character making this a powerful story while addressing a very real problem.

More information on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenders is available at this web site: http://www.siecus.org/pubs/fact/fact0013.html