Positively by Courtney Sheinmel

Summary from Author's Website:

Emerson Price cannot remember a time when life was ordinary. She was four-years-old when she and her mom were diagnosed as HIV-positive – infected with the virus that causes AIDS, and eight when her parents divorced. Now she is thirteen and her mother is dead. Emmy moves in with her father and stepmother, but she feels completely alone. Even though everyone has always accepted her, no one – not her father, or stepmother, or even her best friend – understands what it’s like to have to take medicine every single day, to be so afraid of getting sick, and to miss her mom more than she ever thought she would.

When Emmy’s dad and stepmother send her to Camp Positive, a camp for HIV-positive girls, Emmy is certain she is going to hate it. But soon she realizes that she is not so alone after all – and that sometimes letting other people in can make all the difference in the world.

Review:

Positivelyis a touching, heart-wrenching, and breathtaking look into one girl's life that has been completely transformed since the age of four by three little letters- HIV.

Emmy, or Emerson, was girl who constantly awed me with her braveness and honesty towards the life she has been dealt. Since I know if I was the one dealing with all of her problems I would be hiding in the corner somewhere crying. But not Emmy; she goes far and above to make sense of her life, allowing her to create her life to be the best it can be, even when her weakness and freight gets in the way. Plus, her voice is one that just sticks with you long after you've finished reading her story. The other characters who were facing the harrowing trouble of being HIV infested were the same way; going far beyond to completely gain my respect and support with their braveness.

While the plot wasn't always the most exciting thing out there, Courtney made it magnificent with her writing. Since time after time she made the characters come to life and jump of the page. Further more, I seriously applaud her for giving us such a honest and blunt look into living with AIDS. Since not once did she sugarcoat it into being something that it wasn't.

In all, Positively is a book that I feel everyone should read no matter what age you are because it gives you such a great look in the life of one with HIV, and the message that no matter who you are and what you've been dealt with you can always make you life the best it can be if you try.
 
Grade: A+  

Positively is now out!

Source: Library.

Side Note: The Author's Note in this one of the best one's I've ever read because it was awesome to see what inspired her to write this book.