Author: Camryn Garrett
LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character lives with her two dads and has dated boys and girls; secondary characters are gay, bisexual, lesbian, and asexual.
What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Simone was born HIV-positive and keeps this a secret due to harassment she received at her previous school when everyone found out. She's having a successful year in school, with great friends, a job student-directing Rent, and a love interest, Miles, a lacrosse player who encourages her love of musicals. But then Simone receives threatening letters in her locker, stating that if she doesn't break up with Miles because of her HIV, she'll be sorry.
What I think: Last year, I reviewed several books about AIDS and interviewed family and friends for their memories of the AIDS crisis during the 1980s. I was an elementary school student at that time with only memories of Ryan White and no understanding of why people were so scared and so mean to those who were HIV-positive.
In 1996, when Rent first came out, I, like all good theater teenagers at that time, became OBSESSED with it, but AIDS still didn't feel like a "real" disease to me (and I don't think Rent has aged well, but that's a discussion for another time). I recognize my privilege: I became part of the LGBTQ+ community when AIDS was no longer a death sentence, and it was just not talked about. Again, privilege--we never talked about it because it didn't apply to anyone our age that we knew.
And last year, when I asked my middle-school aged son about AIDS, his response was, "What's an aid?" and then "Oh, HIV. Yeah, it's another one of those STI's we learn about. That's why there are condoms."
But when I leave my "liberal bubble paradise" and mention HIV to people, especially those who are my parents' age, they freak out. They believe that it is an automatic death sentence, that only gay men can get it, etc. They don't know about antiretrovirals or PREP and a close family member even said that he "wouldn't be comfortable" shaking someone's hand if he knew they were HIV-positive. Shaking someone's hand. In 2020.
And believing these myths about HIV and AIDS is not even uncommon. Holy crap, people.
So while I want to write "I can't believe people bullied Simone so much about HIV in this day and age!!" I know that, well, people are terrible and would probably bully. Especially parents, and then students who listen to their parents without thinking. UGH. People SUCK.
Bullies SUCK. I remember thinking, naively, while watching the news of Ryan White in the late 1980s (he lived only about an hour from me), that it was super sad that he experienced all this bullying when he was so sick but at least other kids in the future would not have to experience it too, due to his hard work.
Sorry, sixth-grade Jennifer. We still have work to do to eradicate bullying.
Full Disclosure made me nostalgic for all of the fun I had with my friends in high school theater, and also of the musicals I have not yet introduced to my children. Of the favorites Simone mentioned in the book, my kids have memorized all of Hairspray, and parts of Rent and Hamilton. I've yet to introduce them to Phantom, Les Mis, Sweeney Todd, and Chicago, and I'm not a huge fan of Aida (even though I love all things Elton John), and I just can't get into Dear Evan Hanson. I've tried.
Read my review of Nate Expectations for a high school story of when my friend and I bought tickets to Joseph in Chicago--while skipping class and using the school's long distance.
Ah, sweet high school, before the Internet, musical memories.
Speaking of getting into musicals, how AWESOME is Miles? I'd like to get a guy (or girl for that matter!) like him. He is amazing! And his discussion with Simone about being black, the lacrosse team, and stereotypes? Excellent. If I were still teaching or running a YA book club with this book, I would use that conversation for a discussion starter.
I couldn't stop laughing when I read this exchange:
"As long as they are not showing something horrible, like Cats."
"Is there even a Cats movie?"
"God," I say. "I hope not" (pg. 186).
For the record, I am among the rare theater people who like Cats, but just the trailer for that movie gave me nightmares! Not everything should be made into movies.
The villain of this story? Believable, and I didn't figure out who it was (even though I figured all of the normal high school jerks were just red herrings). Although I did have trouble believing that his [SPOILER DELETED] would be so honest. Or so long.
My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): I really enjoyed all of Full Disclosure, and there's a scene at the end that made me literally put the book down and roar with laughter (while the inner teenager in me cringed in embarrassment), and I can't even describe it because I don't want to spoil it.
And Camryn Garrett, the author, wrote it when she was 18, y'all! AMAZING. Read it today!
Memorable quotes/passages from the book:
- "Say whatever you want about me, but Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, and Richard Gere weren't bad-looking at all" (pg. 58).
- "Naw, I'd never leave your daddy . . . Not for anyone. Well, maybe Idris Elba, if he showed up" (pg. 113).
- "To be in a relationship with someone of the same sex, and to be a person of color with AIDS--it was a hopeless situation because no one cared. So to find someone who gets it, who loves you, and to lose them because no one cares about what you're going through--there aren't any words for that. The songs are all talking about it, but the words only tell part of the story. That's why we need to hear about it in your voices" (pg. 204).
- "Why didn't we get a normal child? Everyone else has normal kids" (pg. 285).
Note: that quote sounds TERRIBLE out of context, but in context, it is absolutely hilarious. Just trust me on that. You HAVE to read the book if for no other reason than to to read that quote in context.
Other reviews: Entertainment Weekly and Teen Vogue.
If you liked this book, you should read the other books dealing with AIDS that I've reviewed. If you haven't read Like a Love Story or The Porcupine of Truth, start with those. Immediately!!
For more theater-related books, read Drama, Leah on the Offbeat, Simon Vs. the Homosapiens Agenda, and Drama Queens in the House.
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| This book is available here: https://library.greensboro-nc.gov/ |
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| Learn more about the Rainbow Book List here: http://www.ala.org/rt/glbtrt |
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