WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN KILL YOU

Ellen, college-bound in the fall, learns that she carries the HIV virus, transmitted to her by her previously monogamous, slightly older boyfriend, who had engaged in unsafe sex after getting drunk at a fraternity house. Author Arrick attempts to convey how this news affects Ellen, her younger sister Debra, their parents, and the entire community, where AIDS has previously seemed a remote problem. While showing the broad, indiscriminate sweep of this national crisis is commendable, this novel is too short to delve into any aspect of it in more than a fleeting, superficial manner, and readers are bound to feel confused by the sheer number of the relationships of the many adults and teenagers involved. Plenty of solid information on AIDS is clumsily shoe-horned into the narrative; meanwhile, for those who believe themselves beyond the reach of this illness, Arrick does make a strong case regarding the possibilities for infection of the middle class mainstream.