Helpful Score: 3
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
First Daughter Jenna Bush spent time during an internship with UNICEF working throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. During that time, she met a young girl named Ana. This is Ana's story, and it's one filled with hurt and abuse, with illness and disease, but also with hope and triumph.
Ana was born with HIV/AIDS. She knew, from the time she was young, that she was different from many other children. She was sick, and she didn't understand why. When she loses first her mother and then her father to AIDS, Ana knows pain and heartbreak. And then the abuse starts, from uncaring relatives to whose homes she gets shuffled around to.
Ana's life seems to take a turn for the better when she finds a center that specializes in the treatment of her disease -- and when she meets Berto, a young man with whom Ana can, for the first time, share the secret of her illness. What once seems like a death sentence turns into the longing to have as normal a life as possible, including an education, a family, and a future with Berto.
ANA'S STORY is both Miss Bush's story of serving as a UNICEF ambassador and Ana's story of wanting a better life for her young daughter, who was born without the HIV/AIDS virus. It's at times both sad and uplifting, but above all serves as a reminder that this disease is a very real problem that demands a solution. Filled with several photographs and written in short, easy-to-read chapters, it's the story of one brave young adult for all young adults.
First Daughter Jenna Bush spent time during an internship with UNICEF working throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. During that time, she met a young girl named Ana. This is Ana's story, and it's one filled with hurt and abuse, with illness and disease, but also with hope and triumph.
Ana was born with HIV/AIDS. She knew, from the time she was young, that she was different from many other children. She was sick, and she didn't understand why. When she loses first her mother and then her father to AIDS, Ana knows pain and heartbreak. And then the abuse starts, from uncaring relatives to whose homes she gets shuffled around to.
Ana's life seems to take a turn for the better when she finds a center that specializes in the treatment of her disease -- and when she meets Berto, a young man with whom Ana can, for the first time, share the secret of her illness. What once seems like a death sentence turns into the longing to have as normal a life as possible, including an education, a family, and a future with Berto.
ANA'S STORY is both Miss Bush's story of serving as a UNICEF ambassador and Ana's story of wanting a better life for her young daughter, who was born without the HIV/AIDS virus. It's at times both sad and uplifting, but above all serves as a reminder that this disease is a very real problem that demands a solution. Filled with several photographs and written in short, easy-to-read chapters, it's the story of one brave young adult for all young adults.
Helpful Score: 2
Very compelling story, but really leaves you hanging at the end. Given the fact that Jenna Bush has a degree in English, this book was written on a grade school level. The only thing that kept me interested was the very, very short chapters that made it easy to read.
Helpful Score: 1
I wanted this book to be good and I was disappointed. Some of the pictures are beautiful but the writing style is horrid in my opinion.
Helpful Score: 1
Not destined to become a masterpiece by any means, but a very interesting and often heartbreaking book. The book is the true story of Ana, a teen mother who was born with HIV and the stigma that Latin America tends to put on people with this diagnosis. The writing style may not be for everyone, but I believe that the message is what stands out. Ana's story is one that will stay with me for a long, long time.
The book is moving but is almost too simple.
Very poor language and the plot is hard to follow.
Very poor language and the plot is hard to follow.
Include book discussion ?s @ end. Great, easy read.
Jenna Bush is a good writer. I wish it had more about Jenna Bush's work with Unicef but very good. I look foward to her next book.
A quick read due to very very short chapters and easy language. This book may have been a quick read, but it was intense due to the very subjects that are the heart of the book.
Written from Jenna Bush's experiences interning with UNICEF, this book is the narrative of one of the lives of a girl she spent time getting to know. In reading, you could tell that Bush made a huge effort to delve deep into this girl's experience to share a true story about a young woman living with HIV in a very difficult situation.
It is weird to say - but I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed reading something completely different from my norm and learning a little tidbit about a girl from a completely different world then the one I live in.
Although my main reason for picking this book out was for the challenge, I am very glad I had the chance to read it.
Written from Jenna Bush's experiences interning with UNICEF, this book is the narrative of one of the lives of a girl she spent time getting to know. In reading, you could tell that Bush made a huge effort to delve deep into this girl's experience to share a true story about a young woman living with HIV in a very difficult situation.
It is weird to say - but I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed reading something completely different from my norm and learning a little tidbit about a girl from a completely different world then the one I live in.
Although my main reason for picking this book out was for the challenge, I am very glad I had the chance to read it.
Ana's life is a collection of bits and pieces of her past. Infected at birth with HIV, she had lost her mother, her father and youngest sister to AIDS. Ana is unaware of many details from her early childhood, with only blurry memories of her parents and baby sister. Ana and her younger sister Isabel are sent to live with their grandparents, where ten-year-old Ana is informed by her grandmother that she has HIV. She is told to keep her illness a secret from others - just one of the many secrets young Ana is forced to keep to herself - from sexual and physical abuse perpetrated by her grandparents, to broader neglect and mistreatment from her other family members.
Shuffled from home to home, Ana rarely finds safety or acceptance. Until she meets and falls in love with Berto, becomes pregnant, and then a mother at age seventeen. She begins her journey of hope - a journey of protection of herself, her baby, and others. Struggling to break free from the cycle of abuse, silence, and illness with passion and eloquence - proving to the world that Ana is living with, not dying from HIV/AIDS.
I enjoyed this book. I think that it could be very instructive for children who are affected by HIV and/or AIDS. I give this book an A!
Shuffled from home to home, Ana rarely finds safety or acceptance. Until she meets and falls in love with Berto, becomes pregnant, and then a mother at age seventeen. She begins her journey of hope - a journey of protection of herself, her baby, and others. Struggling to break free from the cycle of abuse, silence, and illness with passion and eloquence - proving to the world that Ana is living with, not dying from HIV/AIDS.
I enjoyed this book. I think that it could be very instructive for children who are affected by HIV and/or AIDS. I give this book an A!
The easy to read text makes it a great nonfiction story for reluctant readers. The touching story will appeal to teenage girls.
Great book! A real eye-opener!
