WORLD MADE OF GLASS

It’s the height of the AIDS panic in New York City, and Iris’ father is dying.

Last year, when Iris Cohen was in sixth grade, her parents got divorced because her dad came out. Her folks still love each other and even live in the same building. Dad’s boyfriend, J.R., is so wonderful and kind that it’s hard work to hate him (“If you lost your focus for even a minute, you started to love him”). But it’s 1987, Dad is dying of AIDS, and the panic over the so-called gay plague is at a fever pitch. Iris discovers his diagnosis is no secret when the best teacher at her mostly White private school overreacts with ludicrous terror when Iris gets a splinter and there’s a tiny drop of blood on her finger. How can you grieve when people are so scared that they won’t go near a dead man’s ashes without protective gear? Framed by lovely acrostic poems by Iris and her dad, the book shows a girl focusing her rage and pain into love through the nascent radical activism of ACT UP. An informative author’s note describes the complex relationships of early AIDS activists with Dr. Anthony Fauci and adds factual historical nuance to various elements of the story as presented. The homophobia of the 1980s and the horror of AIDS deaths are softened for the middle-grade audience but still clearly present.

Simultaneously sad and life affirming; a poetry-filled, inspiring call to activism.