Positive = HIV = Win

Positive: a memoir by Paige Rawl

Every middle and high school student should read this book.  Paige was born HIV positive. Her life rolled along fairly normally (for someone who is HIV positive) until junior high.  At that point her best friend found out she was HIV and started a smear campaign against her. Nearly every one of Paige’s friends dropped her.  They wrote awful things about her on social media and bathroom walls.  Her life blew up and she couldn’t understand it.  HIV had just been something she dealt with every day.  She never realized it was something that would cause people to hate her, even people she didn’t know.

Paige attempted suicide, but that’s not really what the story is about. It’s about how she overcame the prejudice and built a life for herself in spite of the bullying and being HIV positive. Paige continued to enter and win beauty contests and to use that as a platform for educating people about HIV. In the end, Paige wins, and we all win.