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Summary: they should be eating chocolate cake instead...
Review: ....they are bleeding from their souls. Sixth grader Amanda Farrell has just been forbidden by her parents to sleep over at a classmate's birthday party. She can attend, sure, just not stay over. Due to a tranfusion years earlier, she has contacted the HIV virus and is showing signs of AIDS. Her immediate concerns when told are if she will be able to attend school and continue gymnastics. Of course, as the book progresses, these change, as does her parents and younger brother. But this book is far more than just a literary equivalent of a TV movie of the week. The protagonist is instantly likeable, and the descriptions of the natural world enhance rather than overshadow the main storyline - something not always the case with this author's books.
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Summary: Uplifting Story
Review: Amanda is an eleven-year-old girl in love with life. She loves gymnastics and her life dream is to become a world class gymnast and Bella Karola become her coach. This book takes us though a very trying time her life. Amanda is diagnosed with the AIDS virus. Since this book is written in the 80's a vast majority of the people are uneducated about the virus. People in Amanda's community are not very sensitive towards her and her family. Her school hold meetings after meetings and form clubs to keep her out of thier school and classroom. Amanda's mother Polly is a struggling photographer who is helping a women by the Laurel Smith compose a book. Laurel is known as the town nut because she claims to be able to talk to the dead. Amanda and Laurel seem to have some type of connection and form a very rewarding friendship. I felt that this book was a very uplifting story beacuse of Amanda's determination though the whole story. I thought that when I first picked up the book it was going to be a big downer, but I was wrong. It made me wonder if I could have as much courage and determination as Amanda did. If something such as that ever happened to, could I be as strong as her?
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Summary: my eyes were glued
Review: At Risk is a very good book. An affecting novel of exquisite,delicay,with humor,warmth,and sensitivity. I recomend this book to carieng people. This book is heart-warming. It is one of the best novels I have ever read. The little girl in the story inspires me do try with all I can. I also recomend You read all of Alice Hoffman's books.
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Summary: At Risk Review
Review: At Risk is an awakening look at how one virus can affect an entire community. When Amanda Farrell, an aspiring eleven-year old gymnast, is diagnosed with the AIDS virus caused by a blood transfusion during a routine operation, not only are she and her family's lives thrown into turmoil, but many other people are affected as well. This book was a truly amazing account of the emotions and experiences of an AIDS patient, her family, friends, doctors, and teachers as they deal with the illness individually and as a unit. To paint such a vibrant picture, the characters developed by the author, Alice Hoffman, had to be truly believable and readers must be able to connect with them. At Risk's characters were no disappointments. Ivan, Amanda's father, is very well developed. When he consults an AIDS hotline and goes into alternative treatment methods for Amanda when he, being generally a scientist and opposed to such things, we see how scared and desperate he is beneath the surface. Polly, Amanda's mother, is another wonderfully portrayed character. Instead of what many people would expect of someone in her situation, she is actually human and must struggle between her life and her daughter's. Amanda's doctor, Edward Reardon, is possibly the best-developed character in the entire novel. We see how he deals with Amanda, a lifelong patient, being ill with a terminal disease affect him at a professional level as well as a personal level. He is forced to sacrifice time with his own family for time with another, and that effect is a sad one we might not often realize. Lastly, Amanda herself was a very honest, true character. Despite generalizations by society that an AIDS patient may only think about her illness, it is made clear that regardless of her health, she just wants to be an eleven-year-old girl. However, one might feel slightly let down by the lack of negative viewpoints. Since At Risk dealt heavily with issues of fear and opposition of Amanda and her family's participation in school, gymnastics, and routine tasks, it may have been more understood by the reader if they could read the feelings and views of such a character. All viewpoints given (and there certainly were quite a few) gave a somewhat hopeful and supportive approach to Amanda's illness. Aside from this, Alice Hoffman's approach to showing how much one little girl means to so many people is a very solid, strong, and effective one. Also, the author did a fabulous job of making the reader feel like they really knew Amanda Farrell's family. Little details, bold personalities, distinct dialogue for each person, and frank behavioral descriptions of characters give a very directed, unique feel to the family life. These elements also make it much easier to relate to, which is very important to reader comprehension when writing about a topic that most of the audience has probably not have ever had any experience dealing with and therefore do not know how those involved would act in such a situation. The variety of conflict in the novel is very thorough. Person versus society conflict is addressed when many parents do not want Amanda or her brother to associate with their children out of fear and ignorance. Aside from that, Amanda is excluded from some gymnastics events, and very hard thing for her to deal with because this is her passion. All of the Farrells face a challenge against the community to show them that the only reason for fear is ignorance. Charlie and his best friend, Sevrin are not allowed to play together at the demand of Sevrin's mother, demonstrating the most severe demonstration of person versus person conflict. Polly shows how people can have conflicts with themselves when she is forced to deal with her attractive and need for Ed Reardon and her need to be a good mother and wife at the same time. Lastly, all of the Farrells have a conflict with nature in their wonder at why Amanda's fate was AIDS. If a reader is looking for a book strictly about the story of an AIDS patient and personal, dramatic details on every page, At Risk is not for them. However, if a reader is in pursuit of an account of an AIDS patient that seems more realistic and human, a novel like this will probably be highly satisfying. This book is shocking and painfully realistic. If Alice Hoffman gives one message throughout At Risk, it is that AIDS does not only affect one's health, but also their entire mental, physical, and emotional state of well being.
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Summary: A Must Read
Review: At Risk is an excellent book. However it is a sad but touching story. It shows what can happen to a loving family when they are faced with such a life threatening illness such as AIDS. It tells how the family has to work together to keep things as normal as possible, and how sometimes they wait until they are behind closed doors to break down so no one will how bad things really are. At the same time it has driven a wedge between Ivan and Polly and sometimes makes them feel like they are going threw this alone. This has also made them turn in the wrong directions looking for comfort instead of turning to each other. When they learned of the situation they tried not to let it consume their whole lives and make their son Charlie feel left out but sometimes that was hard to do.
Ivan, Polly, and even Charlie have a very difficult time watching Amanda go threw all of the changes and different stages of AIDS. At one time she was full of energy and very involved with gymnastics would not miss a day of practice. But she slowly is loosing her energy some days she has enough to go to practice and others she doesn't even have enough to get out of bed.
At Risk shows you how a community can react when they are presented with something they are unfamiliar and uneducated about. It tells how one of Polly's closest friends and co-workers won't even let their children play together anymore because she is in fear her son will catch it from Amanda's brother. Then you have a lady that isn't really even a friend to Polly that goes to visit Amanda and they become really good friends. It shows both people with negative attitudes and people with positive attitudes.
This was the second book I have read by Alice Hoffman and I plan to read more. Her stories are very down to earth. They keep your interest so you want to read more.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: At Risk is an excellent book. However it is a sad but touching story. It shows what can happen to a loving family when they are faced with such a life threatening illness such as AIDS. It tells how the family has to work together to keep things as normal as possible, and how sometimes they wait until they are behind closed doors to break down so no one will how bad things really are. At the same time it has driven a wedge between Ivan and Polly and sometimes makes them feel like they are going threw this alone. This has also made them turn in the wrong directions looking for comfort instead of turning to each other. When they learned of the situation they tried not to let it consume their whole lives and make their son Charlie feel left out but sometimes that was hard to do.
Ivan, Polly, and even Charlie have a very difficult time watching Amanda go threw all of the changes and different stages of AIDS. At one time she was full of energy and very involved with gymnastics would not miss a day of practice. But she slowly is loosing her energy some days she has enough to go to practice and others she doesn't even have enough to get out of bed.
At Risk shows you how a community can react when they are presented with something they are unfamiliar and uneducated about. It tells how one of Polly's closest friends and co-workers won't even let their children play together anymore because she is in fear her son will catch it from Amanda's brother. Then you have a lady that isn't really even a friend to Polly that goes to visit Amanda and they become really good friends. It shows both people with negative attitudes and people with positive attitudes.
This was the second book I have read by Alice Hoffman and I plan to read more. Her stories are very down to earth. They keep your interest so you want to read more.
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Summary: Poignant, moving story . . .
Review: At Risk is the fourth book I have read by Alice Hoffman. This book, along with Practical Magic, are my two favorite books by this aurthor thus far. At Risk is a sad, yet inspirational story about an eleven-year-old girl named Amada, who comes down with the AIDS virus after getting a blood transfusion a few years before. This touching story moves you through this little girl's life, and what she has to go through. She bravely continues to go to school, compete as a gymnist, and try to keep her frienships going. She does this all in between bouts of illnesses and low points. This is also a story about her family: her father, Ivan; her mother, Polly; her brother, Charlie; as well as her grandparents, who come to visit to lend the family a helping hand. This is also a story about a community and how they deal with this little girl and her family. This story shows, very realistically, how hysteria can sweep through a school, and how ignorance and fear can tear through a neighborhood. This book was published in 1988, making it over a decade old, and written around the time AIDS was still a fairly new disease. Nonetheless, while I believe this world is less ignorant regarding AIDS, the fear still sweeps corners of the globe. So, even though we're approaching a new millennium, this story is still an important one to be told. The story is there, and the characters are there, making this one of Ms. Hoffman's best.
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Summary: I truly loved this book!!
Review: At Risk made me shed tears. I should point out here that I am not particulary sentimental when it comes to books or movies. This novel, however, was so powerfully and emotionally potent that I cried for an hour afterwards. I truly loved this book. It is so simply written, yet so compelling and heart-rendering. PS. If you are a fan of Hoffman, I recommend reading Second Nature. Please e-mail me if you know any other books by her which you enjoyed and think I should read.
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Summary: An extraordinary book... beautifully written by Hoffman!
Review: At Risk was an amazing book that was a true attention grabber. It held my interest throughout the whole story. I loved the way in which Alice Hoffman portrayed all of the characters, including Amanda, Charlie, Polly, and Ivan Farrell. I felt as if I knew the characters and their exact thoughts and beliefs. It was a very controversial book and discussed many issures. I can imagine how many people around the world can relate their lives to this book. I must be so hard to experience the tragedy of losing a family memeber to AIDS. All the Farrell family needed was some support from the people in their town. Unfortunately, many people were not very understanding and sympathetic, and so the Farrell family had to deal with this dilemma on their own. I was happy to find out that many people came to their senses and were willing to help out the Farrell family at the end of the story. On the other hand, I was dissappointed in the ending of this story. It left you hanging, and you did not know what to believe and how the story would end. However, I enjoyed the book tremendously and I look forward to reading more novels by the magical author, Alice Hoffman.
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Summary: english assignment
Review: At Risk was written by a Boston author named Alice Hoffman. Hoffman writes about a family and the walls they need to break down to survive as a whole. Their love grows, as their problems increase, but they may receive one push too many that they might not be able to tolerate. Amanda lives at home with her mother, Polly, her father, Ivan, and her brother Charlie. Their house is located in a quiet suburban town called Morrow. Amanda, an 11-year-old girl, strives to be an Olympic Gymnast. She practices everyday to her Madonna tape. Being the best on the team is what she plans to continue. Her eight-year-old brother, Charlie, is fascinated by science. He goes daily to the pond to study the animals with his best friend Sevrin. Amanda's father, Ivan is also involved in science. He is an Astronomer. Polly, Amanda's mother, is a photographer. In this quiet town, everyone has the same mind-set, this could never happen to me. Well, things are about to change. Amanda acquires AIDS from a routine appendicitis procedure. Her life, as well as her family's life is about to transform. Friends, and family members are pushed away, and shunned by the community. Sevrin's mother forbids him from hanging out with Charlie, even after the doctor's explain the ways to contract AIDS. Never again will they be the same. Amanda faces many problems, and this takes a toll on the family as well. The family struggles to stay together, as Amanda struggles to keep alive. Can the family stay together, and get through this tough time? Alice Hoffman doesn't waste any time. By the end of the first chapter the reader is already told, something is wrong with Amanda. It immediately draws you in, and you have trouble putting the book down. Event after event happens in the book, and it gives it a certain flow that is easy to follow. The chapters switch on and off between characters, that is, each one concentrates on a specific character. This is good for a book, you don't have enough time to get sick of a character, but you have just enough time to get addicted to the character they focus on. Because this book is written in third person, you always know what each character in the scene is thinking. If you don't like having to figure out what is really going on at the moment, I recommend this book. However, there is still some mystery to the story. Not everything is told flat out. Some things are implied, but are easy to figure out due to past events in the book. There is a sudden breakout with AIDS right now. You hear about it everywhere, so I'm glad I chose this book to read. It teaches you a few things, without over-doing the facts. The AIDS virus is very real, and can be hard to deal with as you find out in the book. It tears apart the family, but also makes the family's connection stronger. I wouldn't urge you to read this book if you are looking for a book that deals with illnesses, because it deals more with the emotions of the family than it does with the actual virus. At Risk is a very emotional book. If you aren't fond of books that make you cry, you shouldn't read this book. It makes you feel as if you are part of the family, you grow with them, and you deal with their problems. I got attached to all the characters, and I felt their loss throughout the entire story. When they cry, you cry. When they laugh, you laugh. It plays with your emotions, but you remain in control of them. I cried more when the book dealt with the family breaking apart than I did when the book dealt with AIDS. To me family is the most important thing, if you don't have your family, you don't have anything. This family is easy to feel for. The parents, Ivan and Polly face many problems keeping their marriage together. Finding out Amanda has AIDS leads the mother to ignoring their son, Charlie. Each family member suffers from their own emotional problems, and you suffer with them. This book was very interesting. It gets to you emotionally, and makes you feel like part of the family. It shows people, as they really are, panicky and judgmental. It's a shame that they were rejected, and cast away from society. It's a touchy subject, and this book portrays all aspects of human nature, the love and the hate. I would recommend anyone to read this to find out a little about the human character, and human temperament.
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