When I told the kids at school I had AIDS

When I told the kids at school I had AIDS, they made fun of me. I told them by accident. Now I want to run away from school." This poignant collection aims to free children infected with AIDS or HIV from their onerous silence--and their peers from insensitivity. Most of the contributors of the brief statements and drawings here are pediatric AIDS or HIV patients at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md.; a few, piercing entries come from siblings ("I really want my brother to know that I love him even if I don't always show it. There are just some times that I have to hit him back"). Although an adult hand is clearly present, particularly in a section where each bit of text begins "I often wonder," the children express their emotions with wrenching candor, whether discussing living with illness, their hopes and fears, or their thoughts about God and heaven. There is room, too, for acceptance and humor: "What will happen to my stuff and my room? (Casey will probably get most of it, but making a museum would not be such a bad idea)." This is an eye-opening, emotionally challenging book, profits from which will be donated to the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Grade 4 Up-A collection of drawings and writings by young HIV patients of the National Cancer Institute. These young people-ages 5 to 19-reveal the human face of HIV and AIDS, and plead for acceptance and kindness. In "I often wonder," the contributors question and dream, expressing fears and speculations about death. "Living with HIV" is about coping on a day-to-day basis with uncertainties and limitations, pain, and never-ending medical interventions. "Family, Friends, and AIDS" records the isolation that society's fears impose. Some children try to reassure readers about the safety of casual contact, appealing for an end to panic. Ignorance and prejudice are the targets of a 10-year-old's essay, "How to treat people with AIDS." The drawings lack technical expertise and sophistication, but are moving. Elaine Landau's We Have AIDS (Watts, 1990), for older readers, features teens' life stories as well as medical facts.