Gr 5 Up—Iris wants change when her father dies of AIDS, so she joins his partner at one of the ACT UP protests
demanding help for AIDS victims. This heartrending novel showcases the fear, ignorance, prejudice, and anger
surrounding the AIDS crisis in the 1980s

It's 1987 in New York, and Iris Cohen's dad is dying. Two years ago, he and her mother divorced, and he moved in with J.R.; later, he was diagnosed with AIDS. Iris has made her peace with her parents' divorce and is still close to them both, but hates J.R. and blames him for getting her dad sick. After he dies, however, the only thing that seems to help Iris feel better is attending demonstrations and ACT UP meetings with J.R. and meeting her dad's friends there. There's also a new boy at school, Julian; the two become friends, and Julian is accepting and nonjudgmental, unlike Iris' school friends Will and Toby. (In fact, Julian is able to bring Will and Toby - and their old friend Mallory - around to support Iris.) Throughout, Iris refers to the acrostic poems that she and her dad exchanged almost daily for the two years between his divorce and his death; though they started as a joke (they agree that acrostics are the worst form of poetry), they are beautiful, touching, and deep.

Author's note.

See also: Tell the Wolves I'm Home

Quotes

...the anger bubbled up, evaporating, and I was left with insides as enormous and open as the universe. (61)

"All this sadness is making me so tired." (78)

...I wondered if it was ever truly possible to know someone. I mean, to really know what was in their head. (122)

"He found peace in being an activist, too." (140)

It made him feel less gone. (150)

I'm so mad all the time...what am I supposed to do with all this anger? (171)

"You know, when you know what you should say, but you can't say it?" (Julian, 188)

Feeling terrible while surrounded by friends was way less awful than feeling terrible alone. (190)

I was a more thoughtful kind of furious. I wanted to do something, but I wanted to do it the right way. (237-238) ( )