Ana’s Story by Jenna Bush: I understand the point of narrative nonfiction is to avoid embellishment at all costs, but in this case I think the obvious concern for utmost accuracy robbed the story of much of its emotion. Here we have a true story about a teenage mother who was born HIV-positive, and I came away from it feeling about as moved as from your average low-budget after school special. Details about people’s personalities were almost completely absent, to the point where I never felt like I knew where Ana or anyone else was coming from or why they did the things they did. As sad as it sounds, this story probably would have been more touching had it been a completely fictionalized version of real events. However, this book isn’t a complete waste of time. I do appreciate the resources and discussion topics at the back of the book. It would probably be a reasonable reading assignment for someone completely naive about HIV. Unfortunately, to those of us pay even the vaguest attention to the news, this dispassionate story is easily forgotten.
Also posted on BookCrossing.