Customer Reviews

At Risk

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

At Risk is an awakening look at how one virus can affect an entire community. When Amanda Farrell, an aspiring eleven-year old gymnast, is diagnosed with the AIDS virus caused by a blood transfusion during a routine operation, not only are she and her family's lives thrown into turmoil, but many other people are affected as well. This book was a truly amazing account of the emotions and experiences of an AIDS patient, her family, friends, doctors, and teachers as they deal with the illness individually and as a unit. To paint such a vibrant picture, the characters developed by the author, Alice Hoffman, had to be truly believable and readers must be able to connect with them. At Risk's characters were no disappointments. Ivan, Amanda's father, is very well developed. When he consults an AIDS hotline and goes into alternative treatment methods for Amanda when he, being generally a scientist and opposed to such things, we see how scared and desperate he is beneath the surface. Polly, Amanda's mother, is another wonderfully portrayed character. Instead of what many people would expect of someone in her situation, she is actually human and must struggle between her life and her daughter's. Amanda's doctor, Edward Reardon, is possibly the best-developed character in the entire novel. We see how he deals with Amanda, a lifelong patient, being ill with a terminal disease affect him at a professional level as well as a personal level. He is forced to sacrifice time with his own family for time with another, and that effect is a sad one we might not often realize. Lastly, Amanda herself was a very honest, true character. Despite generalizations by society that an AIDS patient may only think about her illness, it is made clear that regardless of her health, she just wants to be an eleven-year-old girl. However, one might feel slightly let down by the lack of negative viewpoints. Since At Risk dealt heavily with issues of fear and opposition of Amanda and her family's participation in school, gymnastics, and routine tasks, it may have been more understood by the reader if they could read the feelings and views of such a character. All viewpoints given (and there certainly were quite a few) gave a somewhat hopeful and supportive approach to Amanda's illness. Aside from this, Alice Hoffman's approach to showing how much one little girl means to so many people is a very solid, strong, and effective one. Also, the author did a fabulous job of making the reader feel like they really knew Amanda Farrell's family. Little details, bold personalities, distinct dialogue for each person, and frank behavioral descriptions of characters give a very directed, unique feel to the family life. These elements also make it much easier to relate to, which is very important to reader comprehension when writing about a topic that most of the audience has probably not have ever had any experience dealing with and therefore do not know how those involved would act in such a situation. The variety of conflict in the novel is very thorough. Person versus society conflict is addressed when many parents do not want Amanda or her brother to associate with their children out of fear and ignorance. Aside from that, Amanda is excluded from some gymnastics events, and very hard thing for her to deal with because this is her passion. All of the Farrells face a challenge against the community to show them that the only reason for fear is ignorance. Charlie and his best friend, Sevrin are not allowed to play together at the demand of Sevrin's mother, demonstrating the most severe demonstration of person versus person conflict. Polly shows how people can have conflicts with themselves when she is forced to deal with her attractive and need for Ed Reardon and her need to be a good mother and wife at the same time. Lastly, all of the Farrells have a conflict with nature in their wonder at why Amanda's fate was AIDS. If a reader is looking for a book strictly about the story of an AIDS patient and personal, dramatic details on every page, At Risk is not for them. However, if a reader is in pursuit of an account of an AIDS patient that seems more realistic and human, a novel like this will probably be highly satisfying. This book is shocking and painfully realistic. If Alice Hoffman gives one message throughout At Risk, it is that AIDS does not only affect one's health, but also their entire mental, physical, and emotional state of well being.

I thought this book was among the best books that I have ever read. At Risk talked about the issue of AIDS in such a way, that I will never think the same way about a person with the AIDS disease. Alice Hoffman showed so many different peoples' feelings, and I was actually surprised about how many different people in that community were affected, and by how everybody treated Amanda. In closing, I would like to say that this book was really well written and worth anybody's time to read it.

There is probably nothing on earth more cruel and inexplicable than the death of a child, especially when a child succumbs to a horribly cruel disease known as AIDS. "At Risk" is the story of Amanda Farrell, 11 years old, who has been carrying a killer virus inside of her for five years, ever since a routine appendectomy in the early 1980's went awry and she had to receive a blood transfusion. They didn't test blood for HIV back then (how far away it all seems now) and Amanda got a dose of contaminated blood that has been slowly, invisibly, but all too relentlessly killing her. She's looking forward to sixth grade, she's a star gymnast on her school team, but all of a sudden she's hit by nausea, night sweats, and a host of other opportunistic infections. When her doctor, a family friend, gives her parents the diagnosis, it impacts on the family with all the force of a detonating bomb. But this is only the beginning. This is the 80's when the word AIDS sent ordinarily sensible people into mindless hysteria. Amanda's brother is eight years old and healthy, but his best friend's mother won't let her boy associate with him any more; what if he touched something Amanda touched? The principal of Amanda's school has to deal with frightened parents who think Amanda should be expelled to protect their own children. And the family finds themselves gradually but inexorably isolated: on Halloween night, no one comes knocking for trick or treat.

Hoffman doesn't play cheap with the reader's emotions but this story is a heartbreaker anyway; it reaches us on a visceral level as we watch a vibrant pre-teen on the cusp of life dying slowly of a terrible illness, all too aware of what lies ahead of her, frightened and trying not to be, and knowing that, for all the love and support she gets from her family, ultimately she is in this alone. She writes sparely, almost sparsely, but she packs a truckload of emotions into every sentence. Perhaps the most gut-wrenching scene in the book is when Amanda gets her last wish to have her braces removed, looks into the mirror, and smiles, because she realizes that, if she could live to grow up, she would have been beautiful.

There are many things to enjoy about this work by Alice Hoffman. She brings a balance of the magical and the scientific to bear on a well-written story. There is a nice contrast between how the family bands together to deal with a minor crisis of an uninvited wasp in the kitchen, and the devastating enormity of AIDS in the life of the family. It is a timely story, written over 10 years ago, and dealing with a new crisis at that time. Through the story she calls on all people to have a little understanding as to how "the other" may be feeling. In fact, for me, the function of the story works better than the nature of the story. The latter I find to be a bit difficult. Polly vehemently dislikes her father for running away to spend time with another woman, yet longs to be held by Dr. Reardon. Laurel's character is just a little too incredible---coming in from offstage to play too large a role in the life of Amanda, the stricken child. The children, to me, are just too mature for their stated ages. Imagine 8-year old Charlie slugging his dad, so that he can tell Amanda the good news about her gymnastic team's win. There is little resolution in the end between Polly and Dr. Reardon, between Polly and Betsy, between Charlie and Severin. I do not feel this lack of resolution is planned, for then the story would announce that chaos is the victor when a crisis with the magnitude of AIDS hits a family. I do not believe that to be the message that Alice Hoffman wants to convey. The story has to be a tale of hope, and in many ways it is.

I didn't heed the warnings from friends who had read this book and am glad I didn't. They warned me how sad it was. And they warned me how depressing it was. What they didn't say was how simply beautiful it was. Hoffman has so many different aspects of this book going at once--the number of characters and their points of view--it's amazing the way she keeps it simple. Yet nothing in this book is "surface"--it is all deep and gut-wrenching. When an author can lay out this many characters and explain how they feel--and why--with such precision and beauty, I know I want to read more of the author. Alice Hoffman is a new favorite of mine.

What can I add to the other reviews? With excellent characterizations and natural dialogue, Alice Hoffman is a master at drawing typical suburban lifestyles and family dynamics! The family in this story endeared themselves to the reader before tragedy fell upon them, making their ordeal much more heartwrenching. It was very interesting to read how they were torn apart and I wondered if the parents relationship would be strengthened or would be unrepairably damaged in the end. My heart particularly went out to Charlie, who at 8 years old, didn't know exactly how to react and got kind of lost in the activity. I was especially pained at how the community, through their ignorance about AIDS, shunned Amanda. It was equally amazing how the pediatrician, coach and school principal remained undeterred and supportive throughout the controversy. Although tears flowed, it was a beautiful compassion-inspiring story, not depressing perhaps because such strides have been make since the 1980's in the treatment and public awareness of AIDS. I will not easily forget these characters nor their plight.

At Risk, by Alice Hoffman

For my book review I chose to write about the book At Risk, by Alice Hoffman. I read this book my sophomore year in high school. At first, I had the attitude of who wants to read a book about aids but after a few chapters I was hooked on it. I even read more of the book than I was supposed to because I wanted to know what was going to happen so badly. This is the one and only book that I have ever read more than I was supposed to for homework.

This book is about a young eleven-year-old named Amanda Farrell who has gotten the aids virus through a blood transfusion. During the short time she was here after getting the virus things went haywire, and her families lives were turned upside-down. Not only did it affect her family, but it also affected the whole community.

The author, Alice Hoffman did a great job of making the characters significant in the story. Each character has been affected, each differently, from the AIDS virus that Amanda had gotten. Ivan, Amanda's father, is a very well developed character. When he consults an AIDS hotline and goes into alternative treatment methods for Amanda we see how scared and desperate he is beneath the surface. It is very hard for him because he is a scientist and does not believe that any of these alternate treatments are going to be beneficial for Amanda. Polly, Amanda's mother, is another significant character in the book. Instead of what many people would expect of someone in her situation, she is actually human and must struggle between her life and her daughter's. Amanda's doctor, Edward Reardon, is probably the most developed character in the entire book. We see how he deals with Amanda, a lifelong patient, being ill with a terminal disease affects him at a professional level as well as a personal level. He is forced to sacrifice time with his own family for time with Amanda and her family.

This tragic event made it very hard on Amanda. Not only did she have to stop gymnastics, the sport she loved, but she as unable to attend her school because parents were complaining and threatening to send their children to private school if they did not do something. Although this novel takes place in the 80's, I still think that it's very wrong to separate a child with such a disease when they already have to worry about so much. The last thing someone with aids would want is to be separated from everyone else. All Amanda ever wanted to be normal. This disease also affected her younger brother Charlie. His best friend's parents no longer let their son hang out with Charlie. So Charlie was basically the loner of the family but he was very strong and caring for Amanda more then anyone.

This book was a very good story and a very sad story as well. It ends with the sense of you don't really realize what you have until its gone. Also many maturing points occur in the novel for Amanda at such a young age where you could see her loss of innocence. If your looking to read a good but sad story that will keep you wanted to read more then I would definitely recommend reading At Risk by Alice Hoffman.

I first picked up a dog-eared copy of "At Risk" when I was ten years old. Maybe a little young to be reading an adult novel, but it never stopped me in the past. I've been a voracious reader my whole life but I am eternally grateful I chose "At Risk" to read that day. It is the one book that is very, very special to me. Probably because it is the first book that stayed in my system for months afterward, made me cry for a family I didn't even know. This book tells of a young girl, Amanda Farrell, who is diagnosed with AIDS, and how it affects her family and the quaint New England town they reside in. Keep in mind that information on AIDS was not as conclusive as it is now, there were many misconceptions about the disease. My cousin died of AIDS in the late eighties around the time this book was written. Maybe that's what drew me to it

The characters are intricately written, I found myself growing to care for everyone, from Polly to Amanda to Laurel. The character who stood out the most to me was the youngest, Amanda's little brother Charlie. Charlie is somewhat of a loner, a precocious, science-obsessed 8-year-old who has a strong, typical-sibling bond with Amanda. The reason Charlie stood out to me was his pain and grief and confusion was written subtly, to the point where it seemed like Charlie was fading into the background, literally. His parents are so busy caring for Amanda they don't realize Charlie is hurting and being isolated by people in school who are afraid of contracting the illness.

I commend Alice Hoffman on delicately touching the issue of a controversial illness in the 80s, drawing up an array of characters so real I felt myself in pain for them, and writing this book that will always be considered the first book I ever really loved.

At Risk was written by a Boston author named Alice Hoffman. Hoffman writes about a family and the walls they need to break down to survive as a whole. Their love grows, as their problems increase, but they may receive one push too many that they might not be able to tolerate. Amanda lives at home with her mother, Polly, her father, Ivan, and her brother Charlie. Their house is located in a quiet suburban town called Morrow. Amanda, an 11-year-old girl, strives to be an Olympic Gymnast. She practices everyday to her Madonna tape. Being the best on the team is what she plans to continue. Her eight-year-old brother, Charlie, is fascinated by science. He goes daily to the pond to study the animals with his best friend Sevrin. Amanda's father, Ivan is also involved in science. He is an Astronomer. Polly, Amanda's mother, is a photographer. In this quiet town, everyone has the same mind-set, this could never happen to me. Well, things are about to change. Amanda acquires AIDS from a routine appendicitis procedure. Her life, as well as her family's life is about to transform. Friends, and family members are pushed away, and shunned by the community. Sevrin's mother forbids him from hanging out with Charlie, even after the doctor's explain the ways to contract AIDS. Never again will they be the same. Amanda faces many problems, and this takes a toll on the family as well. The family struggles to stay together, as Amanda struggles to keep alive. Can the family stay together, and get through this tough time? Alice Hoffman doesn't waste any time. By the end of the first chapter the reader is already told, something is wrong with Amanda. It immediately draws you in, and you have trouble putting the book down. Event after event happens in the book, and it gives it a certain flow that is easy to follow. The chapters switch on and off between characters, that is, each one concentrates on a specific character. This is good for a book, you don't have enough time to get sick of a character, but you have just enough time to get addicted to the character they focus on. Because this book is written in third person, you always know what each character in the scene is thinking. If you don't like having to figure out what is really going on at the moment, I recommend this book. However, there is still some mystery to the story. Not everything is told flat out. Some things are implied, but are easy to figure out due to past events in the book. There is a sudden breakout with AIDS right now. You hear about it everywhere, so I'm glad I chose this book to read. It teaches you a few things, without over-doing the facts. The AIDS virus is very real, and can be hard to deal with as you find out in the book. It tears apart the family, but also makes the family's connection stronger. I wouldn't urge you to read this book if you are looking for a book that deals with illnesses, because it deals more with the emotions of the family than it does with the actual virus. At Risk is a very emotional book. If you aren't fond of books that make you cry, you shouldn't read this book. It makes you feel as if you are part of the family, you grow with them, and you deal with their problems. I got attached to all the characters, and I felt their loss throughout the entire story. When they cry, you cry. When they laugh, you laugh. It plays with your emotions, but you remain in control of them. I cried more when the book dealt with the family breaking apart than I did when the book dealt with AIDS. To me family is the most important thing, if you don't have your family, you don't have anything. This family is easy to feel for. The parents, Ivan and Polly face many problems keeping their marriage together. Finding out Amanda has AIDS leads the mother to ignoring their son, Charlie. Each family member suffers from their own emotional problems, and you suffer with them. This book was very interesting. It gets to you emotionally, and makes you feel like part of the family. It shows people, as they really are, panicky and judgmental. It's a shame that they were rejected, and cast away from society. It's a touchy subject, and this book portrays all aspects of human nature, the love and the hate. I would recommend anyone to read this to find out a little about the human character, and human temperament.

I was assigned to read At Risk for English class. In the past when I've been assigned books, I've read it to get the assignment over with, but with this book I enjoyed every page. The book starts out giving this picture of a perfect suburban family living in a nice house in a small town. From the very beginning I felt as thought i knew the family. I think everyone has the attitude that "That could never happen to me." This book sends a powerful message that no one expects for bad things to happen to them. The familyhad this idealistic attitude about the perfect life they wanted. Amanda was determined to become an olympic gymnaist and a seemingly insignificant operation that happened when she was a little girl decided her entire future at that moment. The feelings everyone has a very real and the characters seem like actual people. You, as the reader feel the emotions the family does and it is like you are going through the situation with them. The real-to-life character change throughout because of everything that has happened. They are at first seperated by the tremendous tragady but they learn the only way they can get through the hard times is together. They grow together in love and realize that they need each other. Amanda has a conflict inside herself. She feels confused and helplessness. She is used to being independent and now she can't really do anything for herself. The reality of each at the different realtionships is wonderful. Amanda has her best friend Jessie, who is very supportive and sticks by when no one else does. For anyone who has ever had a best friend you know the feelings and emotions Jessie and Amanda exsperiance are real. Hoffman also explores the brother-sister relationship Charlie and Amanda have. They have the typical sibling rivalry but the unconditional love they have for each other in incrediable. The two of them probably never realized they actully loved each other until Amanda was diagnose with AIDS. Charlie then realizes her isn't only loosing a sister but a part of himself as well. The saying might be old and somewhat oever used, but it still remains true: you never know what you have until it is gone.