It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager, a True Story from Her Diary

by Beatrice Sparks and Anonymous Teenager

Book Overview

The actual journals of a 14-year-old date-rape victim who contracted AIDS and died. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380773155
• ISBN13: 9780380773152
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Harperteen
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.4" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

It happened to Nancy

Where to start, My heart and mind are blowed and sad to know that she still had hope that there would be a cure for AIDS but sad part is that it 2020 and still no cure , a book am definitely giving to my boys to read , and it’s true you would never in a million years think a teenager could get AIDS but the fact is that there is humans out there willing to hurt innocent children . It’s a must read with a box of tissues aside with you !

What Happened to Nancy

In this emotional, yet touching novel, What Happened to Nancy, a young girl struggles with AIDs. She has to soon go through life with the thought about possibly dying each and every day. Her parents, group of friends called "the gaggle", boyfriend, aunt and doctors help her to stay positive and get through her rough disease. When I read this story about a girl my age dealing with more pain and suffering in one day, then most people ever have in their entire life, I was touched. In her day by day journal, the readers get to actually feel what Nancy was feeling and going through. She made me appreciate my good health so much more and I feel like I have known Nancy my whole life. The readers not only get to read about a real girl's hard life, but they can also learn about this deadly disease that many other kids have to overcome also. Published by one of Nancy's many good friends, "Dr. B.", this tale is so breathtaking. Because the story is from a real girl's diary, I was pulled into the book right away. I could not put it down, and finished all 216 pages in just days. My favorite part was when Nancy suddenly was feeling deeply depressed and in very much pain. She didn't feel like speaking to her best friends or parents, but then a special someone came in and made everything better, one of the "gaggle". This is my favorite part because even in all the pain and emotional damage Nancy is experiencing at the time, she still puts on a smile when her best friend comes in. This part made me smile and appreciate my friends. I will never take them for granted again. I would definitely recommend this book. Although What Happened to Nancy is slightly depressing, it is also uplifting with Nancy's positive spirit. I give this book two thumbs up!

Moving book in spite of possibly being fradulent

I read this book twice in a row at fourteen and cried at the end both times, after having earlier scoffed at the book because of how stupid and naïve Nancy acted. It's really upsetting to find it may be largely or entirely a fraud, that this sweet courageous young person may have been made up or had her life made into something that was largely the creation of Dr. Sparks. A lot of girls are like Nancy and don't see anything fishy about an older man wanting to date them or letting an older boyfriend spend the night when their parents are away. During the stampede (or whatever the chaos was) at the Garth Brooks concert she attends with her friends, Nancy has an asthma attack and finds herself being taken care of by a strange older boy named Collin. She never tells him to get away from her because she doesn't know him, or tell him he's too old for her at her age. (Four years of age difference in a relationship isn't that big of a deal, but if you're 14 and 18, it's not the same as, say, an 18 year old and a 22 year old.) She never even tells her mother about this relationship, or any of her friends. It turns out his real name is Gary and that he's 32 years old.In hindsight some of it does seem too fishy to be true. How was Nancy's doctor able to give her an HIV test without her knowledge or permission, why does her disease get so serious so fast (unless Collin had a full-blown case when he gave it to her, or because of her strained immune system due to her serious asthma), why doesn't she go down to the Catholic rape crisis centre she called the morning after her attack, after telling the sympathetic nun on the phone she'd come over, why doesn't her mother take her to get tested for AIDS, STDs, or pregnancy as soon as she tells her about the rape? She takes her out of town on a beach vacation instead? And it's suspicious how all of Sparks's young diarists have the same exact moral preachiness, similar writing styles, never say anything against their parents (or if they do they quickly take it back), never get involved in these problems by their own accord but instead are pulled in by friends who drug them, rape them, or talk them into Satanic beliefs. Nancy may be a sweet religious old-fashioned Southern girl, but surely she couldn't have been that naïve. I was a few years younger than Nancy at the time these events are going on in the early Nineties, and well remember what the climate was like at that time, people deathly afraid of getting AIDS from toilet seats or mosquito bites, people desperate for more funding for research because so many people were dying and getting sick. None of that was felt in her small South Carolina town?It's a moving book with a powerful and important message, but I no longer view it the same way I did when I first read it and thought it was a 100% true story.

The Unexpected

The story It Happened to Nancy is a very good book. I am one of the many that read the book and enjoyed it. An anonymous teenager who thought she had everything she would ever want or dream of writes the book. She had fallen in love with a mature college student, Collin, and he treated her with respect and Nancy trusted in him completely. Collin was what she thought was "perfect." After he knew she trusted in him fully he date-raped her and left her infected with the HIV virus. The book is in diary form. She writes daily about her emotions and feelings towards having the virus. She also writes how hard it is to tell her friends about her having AIDS but she realize that her friends are one of a kind and that they will understand her. I started reading the book because a friend told me it was a good book and it is easy to read. I said to myself, "great, an eleven point book and it is easy to follow," but as I was reading the book it came across that anyone could be a Nancy.

WOW

It was so sad to read about a typical teenage girl who fell for an older guy. I discussed this book with my friends and we all agreed that if an older guy was giving us the time of day, we would fall for him. What girl wouldn't want an older boyfriend? That's what I thought until I read this book. When Nancy met Collin who was four years older them her, she fell in love with him. Though I would find it suspicous that I could never go to his apartment, I thought the story he told her was very convincing. When he raped her and gave her the HIV virus, her life went into a downward spiral. In her last few years of life, you follow her through touching and embarassing events, as well as many sad ones. I never cry when I read books or watch movies, but this one got to me. I recommend this book to any teen of pre-teen girl. I stayed up until 2:30 on a school night to finish the book because I could not put it down! This book really makes you realize how precious every second of life is.

THIS BOOK IS SO DRAMATIC!!!!

This is a very heartwarming, yet tragic story. It made me realize that no matter how sweet someone can be you can never really trust them. There will always be something mysterious about them. After Nancy was infected with AIDS, she admitted that she knew she was going to die soon, which for others that can be the number one thing to admit. No one wants to die. So she decided to live life to its fullest, accomplishing everything she always dreamed of in the last two years of her life. She was too young to die, and it made me think twice before taking any action. Another plus, this story is written in diary form, which makes it easy to follow, and understand, and keeps your attention to keep reading. Every young girl should read this story, it will change your view about many things. And it will definitely touch your heart. Be ready with a box of tissues!!