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Jenna Bush Hager met Ana during her travels in Latin America for UNICEF. Ana was born HIV positive and the book is a first-hand account of her childhood where she was orphaned, abused, and struggled to survive. It's a story of hope in the face of every obstacle. It's a quick read. ( )

Ana’s Story is a well written true story about a young girl named Ana who was infected by HIV from her mother when she was born. Her mother, who she loved dearly, died of AIDS when she was very young. Ana and her sister Isabelle are sent to live with their grandparents. Ana is pressured by them to keep her disease a secret. She kept many secrets and suffered many hardships that may have often been considered “too much” for a child her age, but Ana was very mature. She went through the death of her baby sister, the death of her father, managed to control her HIV, and suffered abuse from her grandma, aunt and Ernesto. She was shuffled from home to home and was destined to fall into her mother's footsteps because of the environment that she grew up in. Ana was moved to the Hogar, a home for children with HIV. She fell in love with Berto, a boy she met in the Hogar that has a very similar story to hers. Berto and Ana felt that they were each other's closest friends and that they were each finally loved and accepted by each other. One day, Ana found out that she had become pregnant with Berto’s baby. This was a scary feeling for her, and was a surprise to Berto as well as many other close makeshift family members that were at the Hogar. Ana’s greatest fear was that her baby would become infected with HIV. Ana discovers new hope and new beginnings for her life. I would recommend Ana’s Story to others because of it’s realistic and straightforward aspect. It is also very inspiring and full of the kind of hope that makes you want to keep reading.
~Kylee Lange ( )

Ana's story begins the day she is born with HIV, transmitted from her mother, who dies just a few years later. From then on, Ana's childhood becomes a blur of secrets-about her illness, her family, and the abuse she endures. Shuffled from home to home, Ana rarely finds safety or acceptance. But after she falls in love and becomes pregnant at seventeen, she embarks on a journey that leads her to new beginnings, new sorrows, and new hope.Based on her work with UNICEF and inspired by the framework of one girl's life, Jenna Bush tells the story of many children around the world who are excluded from basic care, support, and education. Resources at the back of this book share how you can help children like Ana and protect yourself and others.

Ana's life is a collection of bits and pieces of her past. Infected at birth with HIV, she had lost her mother, her father and youngest sister to AIDS. Ana is unaware of many details from her early childhood, with only blurry memories of her parents and baby sister. Ana and her younger sister Isabel are sent to live with their grandparents, where ten-year-old Ana is informed by her grandmother that she has HIV. She is told to keep her illness a secret from others - just one of the many secrets young Ana is forced to keep to herself - from sexual and physical abuse perpetrated by her grandparents, to broader neglect and mistreatment from her other family members.

Shuffled from home to home, Ana rarely finds safety or acceptance. Until she meets and falls in love with Berto, becomes pregnant, and then a mother at age seventeen. She begins her journey of hope - a journey of protection of herself, her baby, and others. Struggling to break free from the cycle of abuse, silence, and illness with passion and eloquence - proving to the world that Ana is living with, not dying from HIV/AIDS.

I enjoyed this book. I think that it could be very instructive for children who are affected by HIV and/or AIDS. I give this book an A! ( )