World Made of Glass by Ami Polonsky -
Children's Fiction

What an amazing book. This is not a funny, middle-grade book I thought I was getting into. Iris is a middle schooler who is struggling to find normalcy while knowing her father is dying from AIDS. In this life-altering time for her, she is using her grief to educate others on the misinformation that surrounds the idea of AIDS. This is a kind and honest story, one that shows you can turn grief and anger into something beautiful. I would recommend for children in 6th grade and up.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

A simply gorgeous, heart breaking, and yet life-affirming middle grade novel. Read with tissues. There's no way this one isn't taking half the awards this year

Loved this book. LOVED it. My uncle died of AIDS when I was a teenager in 1999, and although my family’s experience with AIDS was vastly different from Iris’s, the story still rang true for me. Knowing nothing of my uncle’s “other” life, I particularly envy Iris’s relationship with her dad’s partner. Iris’s friends are also a delight, and nearly made me cry. Overall, a deeply kind and deeply honest story about the tides of grief and the folks who help ferry us through it.

Three things I liked:
- Iris meets a lot of different people who are misinformed about AIDs and HIV - she is not just met with people who are sympathetic towards her and her family which makes the prejudice more realistic to actual experiences
- The acrostic poems and limericks was a good way to keep Iris’ father’s voice in the story, even after he passes. We learn about him through his own writing and what people in his community have to say about him.
- In the back of the book, the author mentions how ACT up was started by white gay men. Intersectionality is important to keep in mind when talking about identity and how movements and organizations are started with privilege and do not always protect everyone.

Two moments that stood out to me:
- There is a scene where Iris comes home and looks over J.R., her father’s boyfriend. She evaluates him and what she can see of his health and J.R. realizes that she is calculating how much time he has left. Iris’ grief is prominent through this book and as she learns more about her father, she cares more for the people he shared his life with.
- Iris mourns the fact that her paternal grandparents did not accept her father’s sexuality, even in death and she thinks about a universe where he has supportive parents. J.R. assures her that he would have chosen her and that her father’s journey with coming out was not her burden.

One quote to remember:
“Oh no,” he said quickly, hugging me. “That was my job not yours. He was your daddy. Your job was to feel your own pain.”

Would I buy this book for my classroom: I think this book is an important one to have on a bookshelf for my students. I would probably recommend this for 6th grade and older, given the heaviness of the topic.

Mini Review: World Made of Glass by Ami Polonsky

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Thank you Net Galley and Little, Brown Books for sending me this arc to review. All thoughts in the review are my own.

This book was so beautiful. While definitely not a fun, happy book to read, I couldn't help but feel so connected to Iris, the main character, and the story was told in a wonderful way.

Iris is a middle schooler struggling to appear normal while her father is dying from AIDS. She manages to turn her grief and anger into activism as she speaks up against the fear and misinformation surrounding AIDS.

Things I liked about this book:

Iris, the main character: I thought that Iris was such a strong main character, her personality was clearly defined and she grew through this story.
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Poetry: One of my favorite things about World Made of Glass was how poetry was woven into the story. Iris and her father exchange acrostic poems and throughout the story they are shared with the reader. I thought this was a lovely way to add insight to the characters of both Iris and her father.
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Emotions: Like I alluded to earlier in this review, World Made of Glass is not a lighthearted book. It is far deeper than that, and although this book did not make me joyful, I was proud of Iris's growth, while still feeling her heartbreak. Some books manage to carry the emotions of the main character through to the reader very well, and this was definitely one of them.
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Overall, World Made of Glass was a lovely and heartbreaking middle grade story that I definitely would read again, and I recommend you pick up when it releases on January 17, 2023

4 stars

Well, for those of us who were nearly the exact age of Iris, the m.c., when this middle grade novel takes place, this book is a portal back to an incredibly painful time...and yet I could not put it down.

Iris is an only child who lives with her mother, a medical doctor, and in the same building as her father. When the novel begins, readers learn that Iris's parents divorced after her father tells her mother he is gay, but the two maintain an enviably close and connected relationship. This is particularly important because - also from the start of the novel - Iris's father is moving toward a painful and rapid demise. It's 1987, and he has contracted AIDS.

This book hit so close to home that - to be transparent - I couldn't read it at any point without thinking of my own experiences with closely observing folks die similar deaths just a few years later. But, that is a testament to the authenticity of the experience, characters, and times.

Some of the many highlights here - along with this aforementioned sense of authenticity - include Iris's relationships with her family members and friends; the horrific reactions uneducated folks in all areas of Iris's life have as a result of misperceptions about this disease; the power of ACT UP and protest at this time; the evolution of multiple characters' grieving processes; and especially the use of poetry as a tool for communication and love.

I did notice some pacing and organizational issues at times, but these are so minor. Polonsky has another heavy hitting read here that no one will want to read because the subject matter is so challenging, but everyone absolutely SHOULD. This is a gift to those of us with related experience, to the memories of those we lost, and to the newest generation who - fortunately - have a very different relationship to this disease than some of us did. I will absolutely be recommending this to students for *many* reasons.

Heartbreaking story, but essential reading. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

The year 1987. Iris is in middle school. And her dad Steven is dying from AIDS. He is nearing the end of his suffering as the disease ravages his body. Still close to Iris’ mom, their close knit family includes J.R., her father’s lover, and Bob, a medical colleague of Iris’ mother Sarah who helps their family care for Steven.

This is a heart wrenching story. It’s hard to believe that it was almost 40 years ago when the AIDS crisis was hitting American cities and the LGBT+ community. The fear and misinformation was rampant back then. No one knew how the virus was spread, and people were terrified of dying.

The book does not hold back. AIDS wiped out the gay community in the 1980s and 1990s. The book focuses on politics and activism. Iris gets involved in some protests. She befriends a new kid at school and finds her passion, and where to direct her anger. She also gets close to J.R., and it’s devastating when J.R. starts to also suffer from the virus.

I love how the book incorporates poetry, as Iris and Steven trade notes with acrostic poems with each other. It’s such a loving gesture between a father and daughter.

A very important read.