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Because of Anya

Because of Anya

Haddix (Among the Hidden) returns with a short but often informative tale of ordinary girls facing exceptional circumstances. “Could someone be beautiful with ugly hair? Or-no hair?” wonders 10-year old Anya as she confronts her image in her bedroom mirror. When the first small bald patch shows up on Anya’s head, it seems like a small thing, but as the bald patches grow and her hair falls out in clumps, she’s diagnosed with an auto-immune disease. At first she thinks. “Whatever alopecia areata was couldn’t be too bad, because it was such a pretty name…. It should be one of the ladies in King Arthur’s court.” All too soon, however, she’s wearing a wig, and her classmates Keely, Stef, Tonya and Nicole are wondering if she has cancer. Then the unthinkable occurs: her wig falls off during gym, seemingly pulled off by Stef, the most popular (and bossiest) girl in school. The humiliation is almost too much to bear but Keely, usually only too happy to follow Stef’s lead, reaches out to her classmate; Anya gains the courage to accept her condition and the joys of unexpected friendship. Haddix successfully chooses two viewpoints, Anya’s (victim) and Keely’s (observer), to examine the effects of alopecia, but she oversimplifies Anya’s and Keely’s relationships to the other girls. The examination of the disease and its accompanying medical information, while useful, takes too much precedence over the development of the friendship. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Great book to promote awareness of AA among pre-teens
Margaret Peterson Haddix has written a lot of books that 3-6th graders have read - “Among The Hidden”, etc. This book, by virture of the popularity of her other books, will be read by so many kids. For that I’m so thankful! Raising awareness of alopecia areata and what it is AND what it isn’t is wonderfully helpful among school aged kids.

As a mom of a wonderful young lady with alopecia, this book was painful to read but oh-so necessary. I purchased books for our school libraries and now many students are aware of alopecia.

5 Stars The book: Because of Anya- Amazing!
Because of Anya

By: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Review by: Haley Mitchell

Have you ever been diagnosed with a horrible disease that takes away one of your best features? That is what happened to Anya in the heartwarming story, Because of Anya by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Anya learns to cope with the fact that her hair may never grow back. This story of friendship, communication, and illness, shows what it is like to live with a disease, and a clique.

Keely is a very interesting, and important person in the book. She is forced to tug on Anya ’s “wig,” or at least that is what the leader of the clique, Stef says. Keely is a smart enough person to know that this is wrong. I found it interesting to read about her, and her thoughts.

The clique consists of three mean girls. Keely, Stef and one other girl, with whom they don’t talk about much in Because of Anya. Stef, is the leader, who everyone follows. In my mind, I don’t understand why everyone in the book ( except for Anya, of course) looks up to Stef. They think that she is cool, and I don’t see why! Keely turns out to be a follower who is trying to figure out her true friends are.

While reading this book, I pondered what alopecia areata was. Luckily, the book answered that for me! I like that it was the doctor who explained what this “rare, but not serious” disease was. It made it seem as if you were talking to the doctor, and he was telling you. I also learned that there is different types of alopecia areata. They are: Alopecia areata totalis- which means you have no hair on your head, alopecia areata universalis- which is losing all the hair on your body, and alopecia areata barbae- were you have no beard..

I felt bad that Anya felt like having this disease was the end of the world. She would spend nights crying, and complaining. Margaret Peterson Haddix definitely gave me an idea of how miserable Anya was. I liked that it gave such a clear view.

This book was enjoyable to read, because of the views that the author gave. The setting was portrayed very clearly. Same with the weather when they are outside. Although those are strong, one of the most important portrayed item is showing the peoples moods. In this book, you can always tell how the people are feeling. That always makes a page turner!

There is a problem in this story, especially when Anya’s wig mysteriously falls off. Had someone pulled it? Or did it just fall off? I found myself wondering the same thing. Keely thinks that it was Stef, Stef doesn’t know what happened, And Anya doesn’t care- she is too busy getting out of the school gym.

I can’t say much more without giving much away, so I suppose I’ll conclude. Keely learns to find friends, and gain trust, while Anya deals with a heartbreaking disease. To find out how Because of Anya ends, you’ll have to read this wonderful story by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Read on!!

5 Stars Because of Anya!!!!
Because of Anya is a very good but sad book. The 10 year old girl named Anya has a disease called Alopecia Areata..this disease makes you lose all of your hair. In the book during gym class, one of the girls tugs on Anya’s wig and it comes off. Anya is very embarrassed. The book really makes you wonder what the character is going through. I really like this book…I cried during the middle of the book.

4 Stars Bald Child
Anya, a fourth-grader, has a rare but not very serious medical condition that causes all of her hair to fall out. She doesn’t want anyone to know, so after Christmas she returns to school wearing a wig that was designed to look exactly like her hair used to look. Anya is terrified at the thought that someone will find out she is bald.

Keely is an insecure girl in Anya’s class. She hangs around with Stef, the most popular girl in their class, and she usually does whatever Stef wants her to do. Stef has noticed something funny about Anya’s hair and suspects that she is wearing a wig. She wants Keely to tug on it to find out for sure, and to find out what is wrong with her. Keely is convinced that Anya must have cancer or some other awful disease, and she doesn’t want to make things any worse for the girl. For the first time she can remember, Keely doesn’t do exactly what Stef wants.

But somehow everyone finds out anyway, and Anya is mortified that her secret is out. Is there anything Keely can do to make her feel better?

I liked that Anya had a condition that wasn’t potentially fatal; it caused disigurement but no pain and no death. This kept the focus on her humiliation and helplessness instead of putting the focus on a fight to survive.

5 Stars A Short Summary of Because of Anya
Anya, a fourth-grader, discovers that she has Alopecia Areata. Anya’s hair starting falling out and her mother took her to the doctor to find out why. The Doctor explained that due to this disease Anya could loose all of the hair on her body. Her family was very worried. Anya tried to keep this disease a secret from her school friends, she wore a wig to disguise her hair loss. Unfortunately during a Physicial Education class, while she was doing a sommersault, her wig feel off exposing her bald head to the entire class. Anya was devistated! The next day one of her classmates, Keely, feeling so badly for Anya, went over to Anya’s house to show Anya that she now had short hair. The reason for her new cut was that Keely had donated her newly cut hair to Locks of Love to make a wig for Anya. This was a very happy ending to a emotional story.

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