Carmine's Story: A Book about a Boy Living with AIDS Book

A ten-year-old AIDS patient describes the disease, how he got it, and how it is affecting his daily life.

Children's Literature

Parents and teachers may want to read this book along with children and then discuss it with them. Carmine's courage as he battles AIDS, as documented in text and photographs by the author, is heart wrenching. She provides an explanation of the disease which is honest, yet simple enough for youngsters to grasp. They will experience sorrow as they realize how different Carmine's life is from their own. He cannot go to school and must be tutored at home and, except for his cousins, most of his companions are adults. Yet they will also see that Carmine is still a kid just like them in so many ways. He has his favorite video games and likes to eat pizza and Kentucky Fried Chicken. The love and caring shown to Carmine by his grandmother, the doctors and nurses, and his home health aide and best friend, Dee, bring an uplifting aspect to this true story. Carmine contracted the disease from his mother, an intravenous drug user, who died when her son was only 13 months old.