Waterstones Young Adult Book Club discussion

This is our November Pick.
On the 24th November

Hello! I can't believe that November is already ending.

What did you think of this month's pick?

I really liked Full Disclosure. It was a quick read, filled with multiple representations. We have our HIV positive main character Simone who's adopted by gay dads, who are Latino and a African-American. Simone is in a straight relationship in this book, but we find out that she might be bi. There's her best-friends, one who is lesbian, asexual and Asian and one who's straight. We have Christianity, we have black-culture, we have sexuality and gender, and so much more.

I was thinking about all the representation in this book and thought that it was much easier to ask what's not included than which is - I had a think a while before I noticed a missed opportunity for this book, which was immigration. It doesn't have to have it, I mean, the book is impactful enough with everything that it touches on, but I just thought to mention it.

I love how sex is talked about in this book. It's talked about by parents, doctors and friends point of view. It's very educational for any teens out there. I loved how Camry Garret talked about it in such a natural way, it didn't feel like it was crude at any point, or that it was putting any pressure on anyone, characters or readers. It was all very informative and respectful really.

The main topic of this book is obviously HIV, and I really liked reading about this topic. I'm very lucky that HIV has not been present in my life, but for me that means that I don't know much about it. I enjoyed learning more about this disease, and the portrayal of the life of someone who has it, or was born with it like Simone.
It opened my eyes to HIV and I pan to fully research more about it, because I like to be aware and open minded, and it's the least I can do.

I mean the point of this book is to make people aware and to tell us that we need to be informed about something before we judge and be ignorant about it. Fear is our worst enemy, and HIV is scary but it can be fought, like so many people who has it fight every day to live. The least we can do is be aware of it, research it, be informed and be less ignorant of what we are scared of.

If you don't know where to start, Camryn Garret has added in her Author's Note resources for the reader if they liked to be more informed about HIV. That's probably where I'm going to start to be honest.

There's so much more that I could say about this book, but we're running out of time for today.

If you have any thoughts about the book don't be afraid to comment any time.

The December Pick is 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston