Full Disclosure - Camryn Garrett

Category: General Fiction, Teen & Young Adult
Language: English
Keywords: Acceptance Bravery HIV Serious Illness

Written by Camryn Garrett
Read by Adenrele Ojo
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Awards: Best Fiction for Young Adults
Release date: October 29, 2019
Duration: 09:32:40

The uplifting story of an HIV-positive teen, falling in love and learning to live her truth.

Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She’s making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she’s HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.

Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real—shy kisses escalating into much more—she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she’s positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she’s terrified of how he’ll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.

Simone’s first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on. . . .

“…Garrett portrays an authentic sense of young adult sexuality in Simone, who is both knowledgeable about sex (masturbation and vibrators are both frankly discussed) and unsure about it. She also creates strong characters in Simone’s nontraditional family: her supportive, loving fathers (Pops is black; Dad is Latino) adopted her at birth. The plot mechanics grow a bit heavy-handed toward the book’s conclusion, and love interest Miles, always willing to listen to musical theater trivia and unafraid to show his feelings, can seem a bit too perfect. But the idea that even purportedly open-minded Bay Area parents freak out about the presence of an HIV-positive student feels all too believable, and readers will root for sympathetic Simone in this frankly sex-positive debut. Ages 14–up.” – Publishers Weekly

It could be considered LGBT but that is too restrictive and not the target group. It is a coming-of-age book, pure and simple.