Kirkus Reviews
June 13, 1995

A first novel puts AIDS squarely in a setting of normal pubescent anxieties unrelated to homosexuality or drug use.

Summer vacation in northern Minnesota with her best summer friend, Josh, has always been a time of joy for Bird. The summer before she enters seventh grade, however, gives this only child a lot to deal with: the news that her mother is pregnant; her own first period; an attendant question about whether her friendship is really love; and the knowledge that hemophiliac Josh is HIV-positive. Apparently this is set in the recent past, before plasma was routinely tested for the virus. Aiming the work at young teens, Bantle is determined to downplay reactions to Josh's condition, even if it is unlikely that Bird's parents would be so casually unconcerned about it. In all other ways, the author deals in an honest, down-to-earth manner with the emotional issues surrounding HIV and brings to Josh a realistic balance of boyish gusto, sober questioning, and outright terror. The lake setting wholly evoked, as is a cast of compassionate supporting characters, which includes a gay couple.

Worth adding to collections in communities that are still having trouble accepting the reality of AIDS - Bantle's message is one of reason and hope.

Publishers Weekly
June 27, 1995

Impressively fresh dialogue and spare yet keenly visual description distinguish this portrait of Bird and Josh, best friends since infancy. For both, the months before they enter seventh grade are a time of monumental change despite the stability of their surroundings, the Minnesota lake where their families spend every summer. Bird's mother announces that she is pregnant with a second child, a girl like Bird. Josh, a hemophiliac, tells Bird that he is HIV-positive. Josh's bout with pneumonia, Bird's dilemma about whether she should switch schools so that Josh won't have to face a new school alone and her realization that their relationship is blooming into something more than friendship are some of the tangles in the girl's bittersweet summer. Bantle steers clear of melodrama as his likable characters sort through typical pre-adolescent quandaries and try to come to terms with an overwhelmingly sad situation. A perceptive first novel.

VOYA
June 6, 1995

Caroline Bird Birdsong was looking forward to a perfect summer of swimming, fishing and camping out on Ossaway Island with her life-long friend Josh. What Bird wasn't anticipating that summer before seventh grade was that all at once her period would start, she would discover the true meaning of puppy love, the future would bring the arrival of a new baby sister, and Josh would confide the shocking news that he is HIV positive; infected by contaminated Factor VIII, a drug made from human blood plasma used to treat his hemophilia.

Bird experiences much growth in maturity and emotional independence as she tackles each of these unexpected issues that combine to result in the most unforgettable summer of her life. After Josh experiences a frightening bout with pneumonia, Bird sorts through her muddled emotions while struggling to decide what to do about his increasing dependence on their friendship. She seriously considers whether or not she should transfer to his school in the fall. Sincere discussions with Josh, her parents and an adult gay friend help her to overcome anger, fear and sadness as she learns more about AIDS, as she ponders life without Josh and that eternal question: what happens when you die? Bird's experience is likened to other novels about friendship and AIDS such as Martha Humphrey's Until Whatever (1991), Elizabeth Benning's Losing David (1994) and Theresa Nelson's remarkable Earthshine (1994).

Bantle's first novel, written in a simple style full of dialogue and laced with humorous situations sure to cause giggles, will appeal to both boys and girls. This novel most certainly prevails as an important story about growing up and about the magical friendships of youth. However, the relevance of the theme of AIDS was an initial concern. Throughout this decade blood contaminated with HIV has been subjected to carefully monitored screening and this mode of infection was more of a concern in the previous decade, which Bantle briefly alludes was the case with Josh. With this exception, the novel is successful in approaching questions about AIDS and about social issues surrounding the virus, as well as promoting the importance of acceptance and of hope.

- Dorie Freebury

Booklist
September 1, 1995

Innocence and fun drain from Caroline (Bird) Birdsong's pre-junior high summer when she learns that Josh, her best friend, is HIV-positive. The story reveals Joshs steady, downward slide from HIV to AIDS - his gradual depletion of energy, his first hospitalization, his subtle, insidious dependence upon Bird. It also shows the guilt that the healthy Bird feels as she realizes that she must choose to go on living despite Josh's illness. Both Josh's and Bird's parents are supportive and very human; Bird even summers with her teacher father while her pregnant lawyer mother pops in and out for weekends. Bird slowly begins to realize that her relationship with Josh could develop into something more mature, and the sense of loss felt when both she and the reader realize that this will never happen is tangible. Yet the book is filled with hope: Bird's baby sister will be born soon, Josh seems healthy again, school is about to start. More than a story about AIDS, this is a story about growing up, about meeting the challenges of new schools and new situations, and about the survival of friendship, a friendship more precious because of its finite nature.