Fact Friday: Positive by Paige Rawl

Positive by Paige Rawl. 288 p. HarperCollins Publishers, August, 2014. 9780062342515. (Own)

Fact Friday features Positive: a memoir by Paige Rawl with Ali Benjamin. Paige Rawl never thought twice about the amount of medication she had to take each day. It was just a fact of her life. She had a happy childhood with her single mom. She had a best friend. She cheered and played soccer. When she was in sixth grade, her mom explained that the reason why she needed medication was that she was HIV positive and had been since she was three. Her father was a drug addict who infected her mother and eventually Paige, who contracted the virus through childbirth. Her life changed dramatically when she shared her positive status with her best friend. The bullying started within hours and by eighth grade, she opted to be homeschooled because of the hate. She writes honestly about contemplating suicide. Instead, she channeled her energy into educating people about bullying and HIV/ AIDS. Today, she is a motivational speaker and founder of a non-profit organization called Paige Power. Positive is a popular choice at TMS by eighth graders when they need to read a memoir.