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Thirty-five years ago, it was a modern-day, mysterious plague. Its earliest victims were mostly gay men, some of the most marginalized people in the country; at its peak in America, it killed tens of thousands of people. The losses were staggering, the science frightening, and the government's inaction unforgivable. The AIDS Crisis fundamentally changed the fabric of the United States.
Viral presents the history of the AIDS crisis through the lens of the brave victims and activists who demanded action and literally fought for their lives. This compassionate but unflinching text explores everything from the disease's origins and how it spread to the activism it inspired and how the world confronts HIV and AIDS today.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 4, 2019 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781984886118
- File size: 126764 KB
- Duration: 04:24:05
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 1190
- Text Difficulty: 9-12
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Reviews
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Vikas Adam narrates the story of the fight against AIDS in the U.S. with the urgency the topic demands. As he recounts the early stages of the epidemic, when doctors were unable to connect the victims to each other or to find a way to treat the illness as the death count inexorably rose, his voice reflects the dire situation that PWAs (Persons With Aids) found themselves in. Listeners unfamiliar with these events will be fascinated by the search for treatment and sympathetic with PWAs' frustration with the lack of support from the government and the church. Their horror is reflected in Adam's voice as they are denied research funding for years. At that time, HIV/AIDS was seen as a gay man's disease, even as it spread to larger populations. E.J.F. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine -
May 13, 2019
Bausum (The March Against Fear) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots with this powerful history of AIDS in America, from its first appearance in the U.S. to the present. The 1970s sexual revolution may have liberated many gay men from living closeted lives, especially in cities, but sexually transmitted infections remained pervasive, condom use rare, and discrimination against homosexuality widespread. The volume shows how the U.S. government’s failure to provide adequate early funding for HIV- and AIDS-related care, education, and research contributed to the epidemic as annual deaths from AIDS soared from 130 in 1981 to over 37,000 a decade later. Interweaving stories of individuals, activism, and medical research, Bausum illuminates the epidemic’s tragic scale as well as the effort required to survive an HIV-positive diagnosis—despite continuing medical advances, some American groups retain the world’s highest risk of infection. Bausman writes with frank clarity, humanizing the urgent, ongoing crisis with great sensitivity. Photographs, a summary of key events, and additional resources close this moving, essential account. Ages 12–up.
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