The Beat Goes On
Adele MinchinBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
People don't want to talk about it. they're scared they might catch it....nobody realizes that there are people like emma out there who have just had a bit of bad luck from one careless mistake.From The Beat Goes On
At fifteen shy Leyla looks up to her sixteen-year-old cousin, Emma. Beautiful, confident, and popular with boys, Emma seems to have it all. But when Emma learns that she's HIV positive after having unprotected sex just once, Leyla must be the strong one. Supporting her cousin through all the changes, even teaching music to kids in Emma's support group, Leyla promises to keep it all a secret. But when Leyla's gorgeous new boyfriend thinks condoms are optional, and Emma's health begins to decline, Leyla realizes people will never be safe unless they are aware. Will she find the courage to speak out and make people understand?
Synopsis
People don't want to talk about it. they're scared they might catch it....nobody realizes that there are people like emma out there who have just had a bit of bad luck from one careless mistake.
From The Beat Goes On
At fifteen shy Leyla looks up to her sixteen-year-old cousin, Emma. Beautiful, confident, and popular with boys, Emma seems to have it all. But when Emma learns that she's HIV positive after having unprotected sex just once, Leyla must be the strong one. Supporting her cousin through all the changes, even teaching music to kids in Emma's support group, Leyla promises to keep it all a secret. But when Leyla's gorgeous new boyfriend thinks condoms are optional, and Emma's health begins to decline, Leyla realizes people will never be safe unless they are aware. Will she find the courage to speak out and make people understand?
Publishers Weekly
Though British author Minchin's debut novel goes overboard on exposition, it does educate readers about the impact of HIV. When narrator Leyla's teen cousin, Emma, confides that she is HIV-positive, Leyla promises to keep her secret and stay her friend. She gets more deeply involved with other teens dealing with the disease when Emma asks her to teach drums at a music workshop offered through a support center. Emma explains what it was like to get tested, a girl in the support group worries about telling her boyfriend of her status, and Leyla says no to sex when her new boyfriend admits he doesn't have a condom. Leyla also faces prejudice and ignorance ("the risk of a normal person getting it is still extremely low" her gym teacher says in a short assembly) and intolerance (a school bully harasses her when she finds out Leyla was at the support center, bruiting it about that Leyla has AIDS, and Leyla's own mom shuns Emma and her mother). While Leyla's fierce loyalty and commitment to her beliefs-as well as her passion for drumming-make her compelling, her narration tends to state the obvious ("My mind was full of all the new people I'd met and all their different stories of how HIV affected their lives"). Readers may also be disappointed with the contrived conclusion. Although Minchin supplies plenty of good information along the way, ultimately, the novel's mission is more impressive than the narrative. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Though British author Minchin's debut novel goes overboard on exposition, it does educate readers about the impact of HIV. When narrator Leyla's teen cousin, Emma, confides that she is HIV-positive, Leyla promises to keep her secret and stay her friend. She gets more deeply involved with other teens dealing with the disease when Emma asks her to teach drums at a music workshop offered through a support center. Emma explains what it was like to get tested, a girl in the support group worries about telling her boyfriend of her status, and Leyla says no to sex when her new boyfriend admits he doesn't have a condom. Leyla also faces prejudice and ignorance ("the risk of a normal person getting it is still extremely low" her gym teacher says in a short assembly) and intolerance (a school bully harasses her when she finds out Leyla was at the support center, bruiting it about that Leyla has AIDS, and Leyla's own mom shuns Emma and her mother). While Leyla's fierce loyalty and commitment to her beliefs-as well as her passion for drumming-make her compelling, her narration tends to state the obvious ("My mind was full of all the new people I'd met and all their different stories of how HIV affected their lives"). Readers may also be disappointed with the contrived conclusion. Although Minchin supplies plenty of good information along the way, ultimately, the novel's mission is more impressive than the narrative. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.VOYA
Bored with the structure and dullness of her family, Leyla adds "a good drama" to her cosmic shopping list. But when she learns that her closer-than-a-sister cousin Emma has tested positive for HIV, Leyla craves the comfortable old behaviors that are gone forever. Only Emma, her mother, and Leyla know that, at sixteen, Emma's life has been limited. Every action, each moment in Emma's life is ruled by this new information. Leyla's life has also changed. The social stigma that is still tied to HIV/AIDS angers and confuses her as she fights her parents' conservative judgements. The girls' mothers are estranged sisters, complicating the family's availability for support. Although she is Emma's main support, Leyla still has her own life with friends at school, her passion for playing the drums, and the hope of becoming a professional musician. And then there is Darren, who makes her want to be in love. But she knows the responsibilities and consequences of having unprotected sex and risks endangering their relationship rather than her life. In addition to her writing, Minchin works with people who have AIDS, and in this debut novel, she creates the opportunity to educate and manages to tell the story without lecturing. Everyone needs to understand that AIDS has not gone away and that it can still happen to anyone. Too many people are unknowingly living with it and spreading it. One might hope that after reading this book, teens will be slower to judge and quicker to believe the realistic dangers of what can happen after even one unprotected sexual experience. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to12). 2004, Simon & Schuster, 224p., Ages 15 to 18.—C. J. Bott
KLIATT
This is a worthy book, about the family crisis that develops when a teenager, Emma, is diagnosed with H.I.V. The narrator is Emma's cousin, Leyla, from a working class English family. Leyla has always looked up to Emma and she is loyally supportive even when her own mother, Emma's aunt, rejects Emma. Leyla discovers that the animosity goes back to a time when Emma's mother, as a 15-year-old, was pregnant with Emma. Leyla's mother tried her best to be supportive then, but felt rejected later and has been judgmental ever since. Leyla tells about the supportive network for those with H.I.V. or AIDs in their community. Leyla and Emma turn on their creative energy, writing and performing songs. When Emma and her mother decide to move away to London, Leyla is crushed, missing them desperately. Leyla's family is provincial, wedded to their TV programs, not very articulate. There are comparable working class families in the US, of course, but still there will be a cultural gap as Americans read this story. The situation of H.I.V., however, would be the theme that unites readers interested in how this disease can impact a family, and a community. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2004, Simon & Schuster, 208p., Ages 12 to 18.—Claire Rosser
Children's Literature
Leyla, the narrator of this wonderfully empathetic look at the impact of HIV/AIDS on teens, has always been in awe of her cousin Emma. Emma is beautiful, funny, popular, and, as Leyla finds out, HIV-positive after one unplanned sexual interlude. Now Leyla must be strong for Emma, even as she must work out her own very intense feelings for her new boyfriend, Darren, and figure out how to get her parents to understand her goals, which have little in common with their plans for her. When Emma invites Leyla to attend a support group meeting, Leyla meets other teens who simply want to live normal lives, fall in love, and have a future. This novel is extremely effective in showing how teens and their friends and families are impacted by HIV in all aspects of their lives; it also provides the clear message that the only way to stop HIV/AIDS is to continue educating everyone about all aspects of it. The novel felt a slight bit dated in terms of those people who still think HIV can be contracted through casual contact, but the impact of its larger message outweighs that concern. This will be an excellent additional to any library. 2004, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, Ages 12 to 18.—Jean Boreen, Ph.D.