Product Description

Ana's life is a collection of bits and pieces of her past. Infected with HIV at birth, she's unaware of many details of her early childhood and barely remembers her mother. Living with her strict grandmother, she learns how to keep secrets – secrets about her infection and about the abuse she endures at home. But after Ana falls in love and becomes pregnant at seventeen, she begins a journey of hope – a journey of protecting herself and others. She is living with HIV, not dying from it.

Jenna Bush tells of Ana's struggle to break free from the cycle of abuse, silence, and illness with passion and eloquence. But this is not just Ana's story. It is also the story of many children around the world who are marginalized, neglected, and mistreated.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #201237 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-01
• Released on: 2007-09-28
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From AudioFile
Jenna Bush's protagonist, Ana, is an amalgam of the poor, abused, neglected, and ill young women she met while working with UNICEF in Latin America. Bush's performance in the reading of Ana's story is straightforward. Her voice is pleasant, soft, and clear, and the story's frequent use of Spanish allows her to demonstrate her facility with the language. The structure of the book, however, offers a challenge to the audio format. Chapters are short, sometimes only a few sentences in length. The resulting fragmented presentation breaks the flow of the narrative in a manner that can become an annoying distraction. Further, President Bush's daughter's voice lacks a broad emotional range. Nonetheless, she conveys an intensity and sincerity that make her inaugural foray into print and audio a success. M.O.B. 2008 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
First Daughter Jenna Bush worked as an intern with UNICEF throughout Latin America, and in her first book, she focuses on the life of a young woman she befriended during her travels. Infected with HIV/AIDS at birth, Ana loses both parents to the disease. After suffering abuse at relatives' homes, she finds a caring center for those living with HIV/AIDS, where she falls in love and eventually gets pregnant. Her child is born without the virus, and at the story's close, Ana has found a peaceful home where she can plan a new life for herself and her baby. The pace is brisk: chapters are only a few pages long, and the accessible language and simple sentences will pull reluctant readers. A few jarring passages point to Bush's outsider's view (a comparison between Ana and "the exotic subjects in Gaugin's Tahiti paintings" stands out), but the wrenching story, illustrated with a few photos, effectively sends an urgent message: too many children are unsafe and burdened by secrets. Classroom-ready resources include discussion questions and suggestions for volunteering. Engberg, Gillian

From the Back Cover
Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope is a work of narrative nonfiction based on Jenna’s experiences while interning for UNICEF and documenting lives of children and teens she encountered through her work. The book focuses on Ana, a teenage single mother who is bravely living with, rather than dying from, HIV. Ana’s determination has allowed her to overcome abuse and abandonment and fight for an education and a better future for her child. Inspired by the framework of one girl’s life, it is also the story of many children around the world who are marginalized and excluded from basic care, support, and education. Jenna Bush sends a message of hope, inclusion and survival, and calls for youth involvement in helping other young people triumph over adversity.

The book features approximately 45 full color photographs taken by Mia Baxter, Jenna’s friend and fellow UNICEF intern, as well as detailed backmatter including A Letter from Jenna Bush; You Can Make A Difference; Protect Yourself, Protect Others; What’s the Real Deal? Ten Myths About HIV/AIDS; Do You Know the Whole Story? Ten Myths About Abuse; and Discussion Questions.

Customer Reviews

A beautiful real life story
I loved this book. A friend recommended it and said it's a short read with beautiful pictures. It only took me a couple of hours to read. And I can not wait to loan it out to a couple of friends. I just went to Amazon and pulled up the reviews. I was amazed at how many negative comments people made and all because of who wrote the book. I read a lot and I read everything. This book was an excellent way to reach out to the younger generation about such a serious topic. I can appreciate the format it is short and to the point, which works for this story. The pictures help you visualize the area Ana grew up in. It helps the story grow in your head. The only complaint I have is it ended entirely too soon. I wanted to hear more about Ana, the afterward explained why and what happened. It saddened me to read the reviews and to read someone say it would never have been published had it not been written by Jenna Bush. It makes me wonder how many other lovely stories are out there I will never read because it doesn't fit the "normal" mold of what people want. I will recommend this short sweet read to everyone I know. READ IT READ IT READ IT. Thank you

A beautiful ongoing story
Jena Bush has written a remarkable story. I love how it is written and I understand why the story is incomplete. In the future I hope to hear that Ana is still doing well and continues to grow. Much was said about HIV/AIDS and much education is being done with this book. I hope that it continues to educate people about this disease. Thank you.

save your money for a better book.
this is a supposdly true story of a girl named ana who goes through many hardships from having hiv, to losing her parents, to being abused in many forms. this would be a truly touching story if didn't come across sounding overly sweet, plus the pictures/illustrations don't match up with the story. what i found was worst is how gives a false hidden message where all you truly need is love to survive. i got this book from the library and glad i didn't waste a dime other then my time in reading this book.