RYAN WHITE

Written with a producer of a TV special about Ryan White, this freewheeling account captures what endeared him to so many. White's life began with a mystery: Why, with no family history of it, was he a hemophiliac? Before it ended at 18, he became the individual who personalized AIDS for the public, first with his legal fights with the Kokomo, Indiana, school system and later with his strong presence and articulate speeches. His first-person observations here take him from babyhood through diagnosis and progression of the disease; jumping from topic to topic as people actually speak, the authors go from tornadoes to Ryan's stepfather's preference in cars and recount telling episodes: e.g., students ``flattened themselves against walls'' when Ryan passed; Ryan's mother let in countless preachers who claimed they could heal him in case one might indeed perform a miracle. The smooth, sophisticated writing makes it difficult to know how much has been polished by Cunningham, but the true Ryan White does seem to emerge in everything from his interest in style to how he thought comic books should be stored. Like Ryan: exuberant, intelligent, charming, and poignant. Q&A section; resources. Illustrated with photos. (Biography. 12+)