The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.
Today, Sarah reviews last week's featured title, Positively by Courtney Sheinmel:
![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xj7TKOA856M/TTSvnh_14jI/AAAAAAAACSI/gZybq2lqsQY/s320/PositivelyCover.jpg)
"When I got sick the first thing that they tested me for was HIV, and I was so afraid that I got it somehow. I didn't have it, but my disease is caused by the immune system. Even though our diseases are very different, I could totally relate to [
Positively's main character] Emmy. I know that if I have 100% lung function by the time I am 40 or if my liver doesn't stop from the pills, I am lucky, and Emmy is faced with that too in other ways. There are days that I want to just throw my pills out or not get shots anymore, but I know that decision is a choice between life and death. When I first got sick, I went to a camp for teens with Primary Immunodeficiency and it was similar to what Emmy experienced at Camp Positive. Some of the friends from that time are dead, but they are far from forgotten. The part about the balloons really got to me, because that it what we do every year on my sister's birthday.
"The plot is real, because you are constantly reminded how hard life can be for some people. This book is really original, because it leaves you with so much hope. Shienmel is a fantastic writer. I loved that this is based by her experience from with working The Elizabeth Glaser AIDS Foundation and is really accurate and realistic. I highly suggest that you read this book, it is a story of a girl with so much strength." --
Sarah
Our Featured Title this week is Positively by Courtney Sheinmel, and in her post, she talked about how her hopes for people living with HIV have grown and grown.
One powerful aspect of Courtney's book about 13-year-old Emmy, who's HIV-positive, is that it gives us a character who represents that experience. And isn't there always hope in finding a story that you can relate to?
So tell us, readergirlz, what people in your life, or books that you've read, have given you hope because you felt that they
understood or spoke to what you were going through?
PS-Don't forget to read the
Cover Story behind Courtney's gorgeous novel.