It Happened to Nancy: A True Story from the Diary of a Teenager FROM THE PUBLISHER
Nancy was an innocent fourteen-year-old when she fell in love for the very first time. Collin was a dream come true--a handsome college student, and he made her trust him completely. Then he date-raped her and left her--infected with the HIV virus.
This is Nancy's own story, taken from the pages of her diary. It reveals her deepest feelings--from the woderful romantic fantasies of first love to the nightmare of facing the cruel reality of AIDS. With her body ravaged by the deadly virus, her youthful dreams destroyed, and death very near, Nancy made the decision to make her most private thoughts and experiences public in the hope of saving others from the same tragic fate.
FROM THE CRITICS
Doctor B
I Love Nancy, I love her still, and hope you will not only love Nancy but appreciate her decision to make her most private thoughts and experiences public, in the hope of helping you better understand AIDS.
Publishers Weekly
Presented as a diary edited by the woman who prepared Go Ask Alice for publication, this book is soberly dedicated ``to every kid who thinks AIDS can't happen to him or her'' and includes an earnest foreword by one of Nancy's doctors (``I worry about all the beautiful, innocent young Nancys''). The story itself, however, begins on a nearly euphoric note: Nancy, 14, is caught up in her first romance. Breathless exuberance turns to horror, anger and despair after her gentle-seeming boyfriend plies her with spiked wine coolers and rapes her in her own mother's bed. A few months later, blood tests indicate that Nancy is HIV-positive. Nancy succumbs relatively quickly to full-blown AIDS, thus giving readers a rapid-paced and horrific account of the disease's progress. Though the wrenchingly optimistic diarist devotes little space in her journal to the specific details of the various opportunistic infections she suffers, her description of a rectal ulcer leaves a lasting impression. The thought-provoking narrative ends with Nancy's death and is followed by an informative series of questions and answers about rape and AIDS. Ages 12-up. (Mar.)
School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up-A book based on the diary of a real teenager. Nancy, 14, is ``a good little Catholic'' girl, living in South Carolina. She has divorced parents who both love her, loyal friends, and a bright future. At a country western concert, she meets Collin, who presents himself as a lonely, orphaned college freshman. Naive Nancy is swept off her feet. Then he rapes her and disappears from her life. With her mother's support, she recovers from the assault and begins to enjoy her life again. She develops a romantic interest in Lew, who is serious and caring. Then she becomes ill; after a period of denial, she sees her family doctor. She is infected with the HIV virus. Until very late in her illness, she does not tell her friends her diagnosis. Despite ever frequent hospitalizations, Nancy never gives up hope. She graphically records the breakdown of her immune system and the resulting pain and loss of control. In a final burst of determination, Nancy sees through a collaboration that will result in the publication of her diary. This book is her legacy to other teens, left to them on her death at the age of 16. Readers will feel her joy, shock, and pain, and a personal sorrow at the loss of such an appealing young person. The narrative is followed by a question-and-answer chapter on HIV and AIDS. Elaine Landau's We Have AIDS (Watts, 1990) consists of interviews with stricken teens, as well as factual material. In contrast to the mostly private anguish of Nancy and her family, Ryan White and Ann M. Cunningham's Ryan White (Dial, 1991) recounts the very public tragedy of another heroic teen.-Libby K. White, Schenectady County Public Library, NY
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