Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Readers rate it 4.2 (272 on Hardcover)
418 pages · Released Jan 19, 2021 · Penguin
Content report card
Last Night at the Telegraph Club parent’s guide: what’s inside
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This National Book Award-winning novel centers a tender first love story between two teenage girls in 1950s San Francisco, set against the backdrop of McCarthyism and anti-Chinese discrimination. The book handles LGBTQ+ themes with authenticity and care, exploring identity and belonging rather than exploitation. While there is some period-appropriate tension, social danger, and mild language, the story prioritizes emotional truth and celebrates resilience, making it appropriate for mature teens interested in historical fiction and LGBTQ+ representation.
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From the publisher
Winner of the National Book Award A New York Times Bestseller "The queer romance we’ve been waiting for.”—Ms. Magazine Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the feeling took root—that desire to look, to move closer, to touch. Whenever it started growing, it definitely bloomed the moment she and Kathlee... Winner of the National Book Award A New York Times Bestseller "The queer romance we’ve been waiting for.”—Ms. Magazine Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the feeling took root—that desire to look, to move closer, to touch. Whenever it started growing, it definitely bloomed the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. Suddenly everything seemed possible. But America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.
Shelved under
- Young Adult Fiction
- Strong Character Development
- Diverse Characters
- Loveable Characters
- Character driven
- A mix driven
- Unloveable Characters
- banned in USA
- banned
- Not Diverse Characters
- emotional
- hopeful
Books in the Last Night at the Telegraph Club series
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ISBN 9780525555254 · Penguin