I have been wanting to read this novel for quite some time, as it's featured on my Children's Banned Books bracelet, and is still a frequent target of censors. I will admit that I was slightly disappointed in the novel, as it wasn't really all that controversial, even for 1982. 
 In fact, the climax of the novel seems almost cliched and way too predictable. The plot seemed to drag on, and the characters seemed too unrealistic, stereotypical, and parodies of themselves. I couldn't relate to the characters at all, nor express any interest in what would happen to them. The Headmistress Poindexter, for example, was too grotesquely over-the-top, and seemed more like a character from a silly animated movie, than that of an actual school administrator. There certainly are people like her in society, but at the same time, those people, although ridiculous, still don't feel like a gross exaggeration. I guess I find Garden's writing to be a little too heavy-handed and one-sided on the issue of homosexuality in the text, although the story is told from the viewpoint of a 17-year old. 
 The idea and message behind the novel are solid, and would have made a great novel, but the execution, as in the actual telling of the tale, was poor. Garden seems to be trying too hard in her tale as far as the homophobic characters are concerned, by making them seem like gross exaggerations, which ruins the poignant love story between the two characters.