in review

I recently finished reading an extremely intriguing book about AIDS  finished Ana's story is an emotional, compelling read. The narrative is simple as it should be - this is not a work of literary art, it is a factual telling of the events of Ana's life. The simplistic nature of the telling allows you to focus not on Jenna Bush's words, but on Ana's story and her ability to rise above and beyond her circumstances. It places HIV, poverty, and abuse in a personal context and provides information and resources to teens in a fresh way. Beautiful photos add to the appeal of the story. An easy read, but well worth the time. Ana's life is a collection of bits and pieces of her past. Infected with HIV at birth, she's unaware of many details of her early childhood. Living with her strict grandmother, she learns to keep secrets-secrets about her infection and the abuse at home. But after Ana falls in love and becomes pregnant at seventeen, she begins a journey of hope-a journey of protecting herself and others (Bush).

She is living with HIV, not dying from it. This story is based on Jenna Bush's work with UNICEF (Bush). This narrative nonfiction tale is an important story about HIV and also lists resources on how to be better educated about the infection. I loved the premise of this piece and do feel that Jenna Bush had good intentions as she shares the story of a teen's life with HIV. I feel that teens will be able to relate with the struggles of Ana. I also feel it's important that teens know the facts of HIV. Knowledge is power. What didn't work for me was how telling this story was. Instead of showing the reader the story, Ms. Bush tells. I know this is a narrative nonfiction book but still I felt the author missed opportunities to make Ana's story stronger (Bush). Over all though, this book was a very well written behind the scenes on HIV and AIDS. It showed thorough explanation and vast knowledge about the subject, a worth while bit of information.