Jenna Bush visits area on book tour

She hopes Ana's Story will shed light on "the way kids live globally."

By AMBER MOBLEY, Times Staff Writer
Published November 8, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope is about the struggles of a 17-year-old HIV-positive single mother Bush met at a community support event while interning with UNICEF in Latin America in the fall of 2006.

Memories of her mother were always vague - grainy like the photocopied picture she kept by her bedside.

Her family said they looked alike, but Mama died when her daughter was 3. Mama "was sick." That was the only explanation given.

It would be years before the child learned her mother had passed along more than her good looks, but the HIV virus, too.

This is the story of "Ana," authored by first daughter Jenna Bush.

Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope, relates a life that is both littered with abuse, disease and poverty and infused with great expectations. While the name Ana is fictitious, Bush says the book's main character is very real.

As a part of her nationwide book tour, Bush is scheduled to come to Tampa and Brandon today to promote her first book.

After visiting Freedom High School in New Tampa for a student-only event, Bush is set to appear at the Books-A-Million in the Westfield Brandon mall at noon.

The book is narrative nonfiction about the struggles of a 17-year-old HIV-positive single mother Bush met at a community support event while interning with UNICEF in Latin America in the fall of 2006.

Tasked with documenting the lives of children and young adults living in poverty there, Bush would spend six months regularly interviewing the young girl.

Ana's Story is also built around the stories of those other children Bush met during her time abroad.

"A lot of conversations we had were really difficult," Bush said during a telephone interview with the St. Petersburg Times. "But they're living with such optimism and such hope ... they just want the same things as many of us."

She hopes the book will shed light on "the way kids live globally" and help young people living with abuse and illness to find the strength, courage and the help they need.

Bush ends the book with sections dedicated to volunteer service, safe sex, Web sites, hotlines and helplines, discussion-oriented questions related to the book and factoids about abuse and HIV/AIDS.

According to UNICEF, some 2.3-million children worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS and millions more suffer from abuse, poverty and neglect.

A portion of proceeds from the book will benefit the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

Amber Mobley can be reached at amobley@sptimes.com or 813 269-5311.

IF YOU GO:

Book signing noon today at mall in Brandon

Jenna Bush is scheduled to appear at Books-A-Million in the Westfield Brandon mall at noon today. The line for the event will start at 7 a.m.

Security checkpoint: All guests must pass a security checkpoint before the event and everyone, including children, will be given a wristband that must be worn at all times.

What not to bring: Books-A-Million suggests leaving all backpacks, large handbags and other prohibited items behind. These include weapons, knives, explosives, fireworks, umbrellas, poles, sticks, containers of any type, pepper spray, pointed objects, scissors, knitting needles, toy guns, noise-makers, whistles, banners, signs, placards, unopened envelopes, packages.

Book signing: Attendees can meet Bush in person and get copies of Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope signed - three copies maximum per person with no personalization. Bush will sign only her book. Photos are allowed but posed photos are prohibited.

[Last modified November 7, 2007, 23:29:58]