THE BEAT GOES ON
Adele Minchin
Simon & Schuster
Fiction
ISBN: 0689866119
212 pages

• Read an Excerpt

Leyla has always looked up to her outgoing cousin Emma. At fifteen and sixteen, respectively, the girls have a lot in common --- until Emma contracts HIV from having unprotected sex one time. Emma begs her to keep it a secret. Everything Leyla has trusted and known is turned on its head. Her own mother, who learns about the situation, will not talk to her sister, Emma's mother, and says ugly things about why this tragedy has happened. Rumors at school fly. Emma begins to volunteer at a support center for victims of the disease, and finds that very few people understand why she would want to do this.

THE BEAT GOES ON is an award-winning British import, but the girls could easily have been American. HIV and AIDS are still very prevalent on both sides of the ocean, and it's easy to forget how quickly someone can be infected by it if they are not careful. Also, there is a lot of ignorance about the disease, as is shown by the reaction of Leyla's family to Emma's illness. Leyla's struggles to get her boyfriend to understand why they must use a condom are realistic and scary.

In an interesting plot twist, Leyla tries to do something positive to help the cause. She finds a purpose and strength that anyone dealing with a loved one's illness would hope to discover. THE BEAT GOES ON will stay with readers.

   --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.