I read this in fourth grade for the first time, and it still resonates with me. Highly recommended for mature middle grade/young adult. Courtney was my creative writing teacher for a few years and I owe my passion and love for creative writing to her. Incredible! ( )

A 13-year-old girl, HIV-positive from birth, deals with the death of her mother, and then reconnecting with her father and his new wife. She attends camp for HIVpositive children and begins healing

Recommended Ages: Gr. 6-9

Plot Summary: Emmy was born with HIV and she and her entire school has known about it her entire life. When her mom dies from AIDS, Emmy is having a hard time adjusting to the loss and moving in with her father and stepmother. When her anger gets the better of her, she breaks all of her stepmothers fine china, and Dad and Meg inform her she is going to Camp Positive, a camp for kids with HIV. She doesn't want to participate in any of the activities there but eventually she finds friends and realizes her mom will always be with her and a part of her, no matter what happens.

Setting: Connecticut

Characters:
Emmy AKA Emerson Price - 13 y/o, 7th grade
Lisa Palladino - mom's best friend, married to Grant with young child Oliver, lives in New York
Meg - stepmother, pregnant with first child
Simone Price - Emmy's mom, died from AIDS, contracted AIDS from ex Travis who she dated right before Dad
Bryan AKA Dad - divorced mom when Emmy was 8 y/o
Nicole Lister - Emmy's best friend
Seth and Riley - Nicole's 4 y/o siblings
Aaron Bay - Emmy's crush at school
Whitney - Emmy's friend at camp, ditch nature walk and go on a canoe, get in trouble and must do dish duty for a week as punishment, gets sick from medicine and goes home early
Robin - camp director, started camp when her niece died from AIDS, probably in 40's
Hannah Rose - Emmy's half sister that Emmy got to name
Amanda - counselor for Emmy's bunk

Recurring Themes: AIDS, HIV, death, loss of a parent, family, stepparents, birth,

Controversial Issues:
Emmy sits "Indian-style"
3 mentions that you can contract AIDS through sex with someone who has it

Personal Thoughts: While this book is on a very worthwhile topic, I found the writing to be horrible. It was didactic, telling the reader how Emmy feels instead of showing the reader how she feels. There were many points in the book in which I felt the explanation was silly, for example when Emmy describes the chair at a salon that allows you to wash your hair. I'm pretty sure every 12 y/o girl reading this book doesn't need that description. It feels like the author is talking down to the reader in every way, and the narrative doesn't flow very well. Readers can't feel Emmy's change, they just know it's happening because she is telling us.

Genre: realistic fiction, drama

Pacing: medium
Characters: not too many
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

This is a book that explores something not many do--living with HIV. Emmy loses her mother to AIDS at the beginning of the book. Not only must she come to terms with that, but she must also keep her HIV in check while adjusting to living with her dad and pregnant stepmom. In comes Camp Positive to help her cope. This is a realistic, hopeful book that can help anyone dealing with health issues. ( )

An absolutely beautiful, and at times heartbreaking, novel about a 13 year old girl who is HIV positive. Sheinmel's writing is both gentle and harsh, exposing us to the realities of being an HIV positive teen, while attempting to remind us that life is precious. While that sounds a bit stiff or mushy, Positively is neither of those. Instead, it's a beautiful novel written with all the angst of a girl who has twice as many problems as the rest of us -- and how she learns to grow. Loved it (even though it made me cry a few times). ( )