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.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 56 reviews)

beautiful story

impressive work by bush.....absolutely loved the way the innocence of ana was portrayed and the struggles she had to overcome just because that was the life she was born to......could not put it down....loved it
August 06, 2008

Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope

I found Ana's Story to be an encouraging account of a young South American woman whose life will always be defined by her response to the HIV/AIDS virus. She seems to be well aware of how vital taking care of herself and her baby will be to their future. The work of UNICEF and its volunteers like Jenna Bush is admirable.

I listened to the audio recording. While the author did a reasonably good job of reading, I found her pronunciation of contractions, i.e., ("diduhn't"), to be distracting.
August 03, 2008

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
July 23, 2008

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.
July 06, 2008

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.
June 25, 2008

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