Cover of My Dad Has HIV.

Cover image from Open Library.

My Dad Has HIV

Creator

Earl Alexander, Sheila Rudin, and Pam Sejkora; illustrated by Ronnie Walter Shipman

Date

1996

Format

Book

A children's health explainer about a child whose father is living with HIV, published at a turning point in HIV treatment history.

HIV/AIDSFathersSchool stigmaHealth educationAuthor inscriptionFamily care

Contact About Access Back to catalog

Overview

My Dad Has HIV is a 1996 children's health explainer by Earl Alexander, written from the viewpoint of Lindsey, a seven-year-old whose father is living with HIV. The collection record places it beside books about gay parental figures, while external sources support the HIV/AIDS, family, school, and stigma contexts more clearly than they support an explicit identity claim for the father. Its importance lies in the moment of publication. The book appeared as combination antiretroviral treatment was changing HIV prognosis, while children still needed language for fear, disclosure, friendship, school, and care. The local catalog also records an author inscription, making the item a possible object of personal support as well as public-health education.^{[2][4][11][1]}

Child-Centered Disease Literacy

The book explains HIV through a child's questions rather than through an adult medical lecture. Lindsey worries about whether her father will die, whether her friends will keep playing with her, and whether teachers and classmates will understand. That viewpoint makes the book part of disease literacy for young readers: it translates illness, transmission, medication, and fear into school and family scenes. Educational listings and picture-book database records support reading the item as a health-resource book as much as a conventional storybook.^[4][5][7]

School, Disclosure, And Stigma

The emotional structure turns on disclosure. Lindsey's father is known at school, helps in the classroom, and is liked by children, yet HIV still changes how the family imagines public attention. That tension gives the book its collection value: illness makes a household visible to teachers, friends, and other families. The story belongs with family-representation books because it asks how children carry adult stigma into everyday spaces. The issue is not only medical knowledge but whether a child can remain socially protected when a parent's illness becomes known.^[1][4][8]

The 1996 Treatment Hinge

The publication date is historically charged. HIV.gov and NIAID identify 1996 as a major turning point in HIV/AIDS treatment history, with combination antiretroviral therapy changing mortality and expectation. My Dad Has HIV appears at that hinge: it still speaks from a world of fear and loss, but it also presents medicine, health maintenance, and education as part of family life. For visitors, that timing helps explain why a small children's book can carry the atmosphere of an epidemic and the first signs of a changed medical future.^[11][12][1]

Family Placement And Careful Language

The local catalog interprets the father as a gay parental figure, while the external public record is more cautious. The most accurate framing is therefore to describe the item as a family and HIV/AIDS book that the collector placed in relation to gay-parent representation. That distinction protects the interpretation from overclaiming while preserving the collection's reading. The book can still sit meaningfully beside LGBTQ-family titles because HIV/AIDS, stigma, disclosure, and parental care shaped the lives of many families represented in and around this collection.^[1][10][9]

Timeline

1987Alexander diagnosis contextIn later testimony, Earl Alexander said he learned he was HIV positive in 1987.^[15]
1996PublicationFairview Press published the book in Minneapolis.^[2][3]
1996Treatment transitionPublic-health timelines identify 1996 as a major year for combination therapy and changing HIV/AIDS outcomes.^[11][12]
1997Education and Lambda receptionEducation World profiled the book, and Lambda Literary listed it as a Children's/YA finalist.^[5][6]
2000-2001Resource bibliography useSIECUS and Wisconsin DPI/ERIC listed the book as a resource for young children and HIV/AIDS education.^[8][7]
2012Fairview assets acquiredPublishers Weekly reported that Rowman & Littlefield acquired Fairview Press assets.^[13]

Edition Trail

Related publication and object-history notes for this item.

1996

Fairview Press edition

The main publication record.

Local copy

Reported author inscription

The local catalog records an inscription by Earl Alexander.

Explore Connections

Browse direct links, shared themes, and nearby publication dates.

Linked records

Gay-father contrast

Daddy's Roommate

Daddy's Roommate explicitly names a gay father and partner, while My Dad Has HIV does not name the father's sexuality.

References [9][2]

Child explanation

Heather Has Two Mommies

Both books use a child's questions to make family difference legible, but one centers family structure and the other illness and stigma.

References [10]

Child viewpoint

When Megan Went Away

Both use a child's perspective to mediate adult realities that are often difficult to explain directly.

References [10]

YA stigma

Annie on My Mind

Annie and My Dad Has HIV both belong to youth-reading histories shaped by stigma, disclosure, and adult control over children's access to difficult subjects.

References [9]

Shared themes

Fathers

Milly, Molly and Different Dads

A Milly, Molly values-series picture book about children whose fathers and family arrangements differ.

Nearby dates

Published 1996

Citation