by Courtney Sheinmel
ages: 10+
First sentence: “
Review copy provided by the publisher.
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There are some books that quietly creep under your skin and stick there. Sure, you know up front that they are issue books, that the sole purpose of the story is to raise awareness on something or other — in this case, AIDS, especially in children — that the author particularly cares about. But, for many reasons, the story sticks with you.

The story in this case follows thirteen-year-old Emerson — Emmy — Price. She’s HIV-positive, and her mother — who had AIDS — has recently passed away. Emmy’s dealing with a lot of change (she’s moved in with her dad and his new wife, who is expecting), a lot of pain, a lot of heartbreak, and it’s almost too much for her to bear. She wants to give it all up: it’s hard being different, taking meds all the time, and she misses her mom desperately. Then her dad sends her away to Camp Positive, a camp exclusively for HIV-positive kids. Over the course of the summer, Emmy learns to accept what has happened and move on.

It’s an issue book, definitely: the authors note on the end was almost more moving than the story itself. The fact that the author cares about the subject, and wants to address issues surrounding AIDS and HIV. But, she gave us a character we could care about (and get irritated with; I spent a good half of the book annoyed with her) and care about the journey of. It’s a touching book, it’s a caring book. And so, it surpasses the issue-ness and becomes a genuinely good book.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)