Ana's Story

Infobox Book
name = Ana's Story
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Jenna Bush
illustrator = Mia Baxter
cover_artist =
country =
language =
series =
subject =
genre =
publisher = HarperCollins
pub_date = September 28, 2007
english_pub_date =
media_type = Hardcover
pages = 304
isbn = 0061379085
oclc =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope" is a non-fiction book, by Jenna Bush, daughter of U.S. President George W. Bush. Ana's Story is the account of a 17-year-old mother who was born with HIV. Bush met Ana, identified only by her first name, while an intern for UNICEF in Latin America. Because of discrimination against AIDS victims, some names and details in the story were altered to protect the subjects.Cite news | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801989_pf.html | title = Jenna's Story: A New Author Steps Forth | author = Bob Thompson | date = September 29, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-10-07 | work = The Washington Post ]

Publication background

Bush graduated from the University of Texas in 2004 and worked on her father's 2004 reelection campaign before taking a job as a teaching assistant at a charter school in Washington, D.C. Many of her students at the charter school had Latin American backgrounds, and Bush decided to learn more about their home countries. Along with her friend Mia Baxter, a former photographer for "Glamour Magazine", she applied to work for UNICEF. Bush and Baxter set out to document the lives of AIDS victims living in "exclusion," a UNICEF term for people not receiving education, health care and other social services. While documenting their lives, Bush met Ana and thought her story might be worthy of a book.

On March 6, 2007, publishing house HarperCollins announced they would publish the book. Initial publicity for the book was tightly controlled, with Bush only granting an interview to "USA Today".Cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/books/31daug.html?_r=1&oref=slogin | author = Ashley Parker | date = March 31, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-10-07 | work = The New York Times | title = Daddy May Write Laws, but Daughter Has Her Eye on a Book Deal ] The book was published on September 28, 2007 with an initial printing of 500,000 copies.Cite news | url = http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/reviews/2007-09-26-jenna-bush_N.htm | title = Jenna Bush's 'Ana's Story' sounds HIV message for teens | work = USA Today | date = September 26, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-10-07 | author = Bob Minzesheimer]

Contents

The book tells the story of Ana whose first memory is of learning that her baby sister has died. Ana's parents die of AIDS as well, and Ana is raised by an abusive grandmother whose boyfriend molested her. Ana learns at age 10 that she has HIV, but is told that it must be kept secret. By 17, Ana has a child of her own (HIV-negative) and is struggling to survive.

The book consists of 102 chapters, some as short as a few sentences, and includes 49 pictures from Mia Baxter. The book also consists of 35 pages of information about UNICEF and AIDS-prevention.

Promotional tour

To promote the large printing, HarperCollins arranged a 25-city book tour for Bush. Bush also gave interviews to 20/20 with Diane Sawyer, "The Washington Post" and "People Magazine". At Bush's first bookstore appearance in Annapolis, Maryland, a line formed at 9 a.m. for a 2 p.m. book signing. Bush has said that her share of the proceeds will be donated to UNICEF. [Cite news | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/29/AR2007092901331.html | title = Jenna Bush, Author, Finds Eager Audience at Signing | date = September 30, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-10-07 | author = Amy Argetsinger | work = The Washington Post]

Bush and UN programs

Some critics have noted that Jenna Bush's father, President George W. Bush has had a relationship with the United Nations that many consider combative and criticized Jenna for not taking a stand on this issue. An example is that the Bush administration has declined to fund the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which funds various HIV prevention programs on the grounds that the UNFPA has funded coercive abortions in China. Although the State Department refuted the allegation, the administration has withheld $195 million in funds to the organization.Cite news | title = Bush's policies belie the message in Jenna's book, Ana's Story | author = Elizabeth Devereaux | work = Publishers Weekly | date = October 8, 2007 | accessdate = 2007-10-07 | url = http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6487737.html ] Bush has generally declined to discuss her father's politics, though she did say "I'm not my dad," and "I can tell you that UNICEF is doing incredible work." One critic has noted that such statements could be considered "visiting the sins of the father on the daughter."

References

External links

* [http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061379086/Anas_Story/index.aspx Ana's Story] on HarperCollins Web site.