The first picture book about a person with AIDS came out in 1989, at the height of the AIDS crisis in the U.S. Here’s more about it (can you guess the better-known title it beat for the Lambda Literary Award?) as well as several kids’ books about AIDS from the past two years.
Click titles or images for full reviews, purchase links, and more.
Picture Books
Losing Uncle Tim, by MaryKate Jordan, illustrated by Judith Friedman (Albert Whitman). This is the very first picture book about a person with AIDS, from 1989, which I am including for historical purposes and because it is available to read free online at Open Library, making it easy to check out. Uncle Tim is not explicitly gay, but is unmarried and runs an antique store; it’s easy to assume he was imagined as a gay man. The book is told from the first-person perspective of his nephew. While the cautious approach to his queerness may feel dated to many readers today, the book offers comfort to children dealing with a loved one who has a terminal illness, and importantly dispels the myth that one can “catch” AIDS by hugging or caring for someone with AIDS.
The title it beat out for the Lambda Literary Award in 1990 was Heather Has Two Mommies, the first picture book to show an intact family with same-sex parents. Heather has gone on to widespread awareness and several editions; if people know only one LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ book, it’s probably Heather. Losing Uncle Tim is long out of print, however; perhaps the clarity of the queer identities in Heather has helped it, or perhaps the difficult subject matter of Losing Uncle Tim made it less popular. Nevertheless, its subject matter clearly struck a chord at the time, as the award shows. (And both books speak to the burgeoning need at the time for children’s books about subjects of interest to the queer community and with queer characters.)
Stitch by Stitch: Cleve Jones and the AIDS Memorial Quilt, by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Jamey Cristoph (Magination Press). Rob Sanders shows why he’s one of the leading authors of children’s books about LGBTQ history, with a lyrical and moving book that conveys a life, an era, and a somber topic in a way both informative and age appropriate (4 to 8 years, according to the publisher). Sanders does not talk down to his young audience but also manages to make the story accessible, clear, and respectful of its subject. Disease and discrimination are never easy to write about for children in ways that are neither sugarcoating nor unduly frightening, but Sanders shows it can be done, giving us a story of pandemic and prejudice but also of empowerment and hope. Highly recommended.
For Middle Grade Readers
Blood Brothers, by Rob Sanders (Reycraft). “Charlie is the best at dying,” begins this moving, powerful novel in verse from Rob Sanders. After the haunting beginning, set in 1987, we learn that Calvin and his brothers Charlie and Curtis have hemophilia, a rare disease that prevents their blood from clotting. They are given treatments made from other people’s blood—but this substance meant to heal them instead gives them what was then a death sentence, as the boys contract AIDS from it. As others in their small Florida community gradually find out and panic about catching the misunderstood disease, the boys are kicked out of school, baseball, scouts, and even their church. The boys’ single mom tries to protect the family as fear and hate close in. Inspired by real events and people (notably Ryan White and the Ray brothers), but fictionalized by Sanders to powerful, dramatic effect, this is a story about bias and narrow-mindedness, but also about hope, love, resilience, and the precious, rare power of allies. It may not be a happy story, but it feels like a necessary one.
What Is the AIDS Crisis? by Nico Medina and Who HQ, illustrated by Tim Foley (Penguin Workshop). Part of Penguin Workshop’s popular Who HQ series, this short (112-page) volume offers tween readers a first look at this sobering subject. Despite a few gaps that I detail in my full review, this is a solid, thoughtful book that doesn’t flinch from looking at the horrors of the disease, how the lack of government response cost lives, and the vital role of community activists. The emphasis on personal stories, not just facts and events, keep this history engaging and relevant to young readers.
These aren’t the only LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ books to include characters with AIDS (Brian Selznick’s The Marvels is another that comes to mind, and Matthew Burgess’ Drawing on the Walls, A Story of Keith Haring), but for World AIDS Day, I’m focusing on ones that have AIDS itself as a primary theme. May they help inspire understanding and action in the next generation.