This Terrible True Thing

August 1, 2023
A teenager in 1991 faces her father's battle with AIDS. Danielle, a senior at a prestigious New Jersey boarding school, is shocked to find out her father is HIV-positive. Though she tries to focus on her art school application and her potential relationship with classmate Marco, her father's diagnosis impacts her life, even making her doubt the point of art. Aside from a modern usage of queer and the conscious invocation of retro music and technology, this book feels like it was written in the '90s and sat collecting dust until now. The main character embodies the alt-girl artist vibes of the decade, with her short hair and dresses paired with Doc Martens. The story effectively captures the homophobia and fear of AIDS that permeated the era while also touching on HIV stigma. On the other hand, the way the author treats a trans woman character--including emphasizing her large hands and Adam's apple, having the character drop her own deadname, and describing her as "sparkly"--might have passed for celebratory in 1991 but reads far less positively in 2023. The result is poignant and informative, celebrating art and individuality, while also feeling dated and failing to speak directly to queer readers despite being about the gay community surrounding Danielle. Black-and-white line art enhances the text. Main characters read white. Very effective as historical fiction but falls short as a queer story. (Historical fiction. 13-17)

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