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.
