I'll Love You When You're More Like Me

M.E. Kerr, real name Marijane Meaker, has published over fifty books under various pen names for the children's, young-adult, mystery and adult community. She began writing young adult novels at the urging of Louise Fitzhugh, author of Harriet the Spy. Her first, Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack! was an ALA Notable Book of the year. If I Love You Am I Trapped Forever? was named Children’s Book of the Year by Child Study Association. Kerr also had another life as Vin Packer, the pen name under which she wrote a number of popular lesbian pulp novels, including “Spring Fire.” In “Highsmith: A Romance of the 50s,” Kerr depicted her love affair with “The Talented Mr. Highsmith”'s Patricia Highsmith, as well as the vibrant life gay community of 1950s Greenwich Village. “I'll Love You…” is a fascinating portrait of a friend-triangle in Easthampton, the beach community where Kerr lives. The story of a teenaged soap star and the boy she meets over a difficult summer, it takes on the complex issues of fame, homosexuality, and family with Kerr's typical humor and insight.