When Megan Went Away facts for kids
The cover of When Megan Went Away
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| Author | Jane Severance |
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| Illustrator | Tea Schook |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's picture book |
| Publisher | Lollipop Power |
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Publication date
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1979 |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 32 |
| ISBN | 9780914996224 |
| OCLC | 6734819 |
When Megan Went Away is a 1979 picture book written by Jane Severance and illustrated by Tea Schook. The book, published by the independent press Lollipop Power, concerns Shannon dealing with the separation of her mother and Megan, her mother's former partner. It is regarded as the first picture book to include LGBT characters, and specifically the first to feature lesbian characters, a distinction sometimes erroneously bestowed upon Lesléa Newman's Heather Has Two Mommies.
As a young lesbian working in a feminist bookstore in Denver in her early twenties, Severance sought to rectify the lack of picture book content she perceived for children with lesbian parents. When Megan Went Away was not widely distributed upon publication and proved divisive, with some praising the story for being an anti-sexist example of lesbian life and others finding its depiction of same-sex separation poorly timed, arriving at a moment when lesbian motherhood was on the rise. Copies of When Megan Went Away are primarily accessible in archives and library special collections as of the 2010s.
Plot
The story centers around Shannon, a preteen girl whose mother's partner, Megan, has recently separated from Shannon's mother. Shannon wanders throughout her house, noticing items Megan has taken with her, as well as items that remain, reminding her of her mother's former partner. Shannon makes a dinner of sandwiches and milk for herself and her mother, and she grows angry when her mother fails to eat the meal. In the darkness, the two cuddle beneath a blanket, reflecting on good and bad times they shared with Megan, and crying together. Later, exhausted, Shannon and her mother make their way to the kitchen where her mother fries them both hamburgers.
