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Title: It Happened to Nancy
Author: Anonymous
Age level: Grades 8-9
Recommended by: Lynn Lemmon, Palm Harbor University High School, Florida Summary:
Compiled by the same editor as Go Ask Alice, It Happened to Nancy
is the true story of a typical teenage girl who is date-raped and subsequently contracts AIDS. Her diary entries take the reader from her carefree, pre-rape days with her friends and School activities through her gradual deterioration due to AIDS. This book explores Nancy's own feelings about her inevitable death as well as her friends' responses to her condition. The themes of responsible sexual behavior and coping with adversity pose important opportunities for teens to explore their own lives and mortality.
Teaching suggestions: This book abounds with topics for discussion:
dating, friendships, illness, confiding in parents, and death. Thus, the best way to approach this book with teens is to let them question and talk both to the teacher and to one another. Since some of the subject matter is personal and sensitive in nature, journal writings might sometimes be substituted for discussions. At the end of the reading, students might research new strides in the prevention and treatment of AIDS, so as to come away from the book with some optimism about AIDS victims. Students will also benefit from hearing a speaker from a local AIDS group.
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