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Book Review of At Risk

At Risk
At Risk
Author: Alice Hoffman
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
reviewed on + 106 more book reviews


A simply beautiful, amazing and, of course, heart-breaking novel. I started reading it last night, and couldn't stop. Words can't adequately describe how strongly I was affected. Hoffman has written a deeply-moving novel I can most highly recommend.

Library Journal Review
Probably destined to become the first best-selling novel about AIDS, Hoffman's newest work is heart-wrenching. Star gymnast on her school team, 11-year-old Amanda yearns toward adolescence. When her illness is diagnosed (she'd had a blood transfusion for an appendectomy), her family photographer mother Polly, astronomer father Ivan, and 8-year-old brother Charlie experience the expected disbelief, anger, and sorrow. However, because Amanda has AIDS they also experience rejection by old friends and trouble at school. As Amanda's life dwindles away, the family struggles, begins to dissolve, but finally reconnects. First-rate "contemporary issue" fiction that will leave few dry eyes.