The Fight of Our Lives: AIDS in America
By David Levithan and Gabriel Duckels
Knopf Books for Young Readers, April 21, 2026
A thoughtful, poignant look at the AIDS crisis in the United States that includes primary source interviews, history, medical research, and cultural touchpoints.
The AIDS crisis in America is complex and composed of countless individual stories of grief, love, and advocacy. Its history shows the power of youth activism, how creativity and community can be vehicles for social change, and how bigotry and misinformation led to inequality in care.
The early days of the AIDS crisis saw LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities making strides in the fight for equality. As many people in positions of power were slow to act or actively didn’t pay attention until their own communities were affected, the fight for equality turned into a fight for their lives. Grassroots efforts filled in gaps where mainstream medicine and politics failed, and over time, a cultural shift of awareness emerged, which led to more research and more treatments. And while the disease has transitioned from a death sentence to one that people can live full lives with, there are still people dying of HIV/AIDS today because they can’t access the care they need. The fight may have begun decades ago, but is not yet over.
Award-winning author David Levithan and University of Cambridge PhD Gabriel Duckels detail a brief history of the epidemic, touching on key moments and figures, such as Ryan White, ACT UP, Larry Kramer and Anthony Fauci, Pedro Zamora from MTV’s The Real World, and the Names Quilt. Threaded throughout are poems, essays, and other creative works, in addition to first-person interviews and narratives. The most important takeaway is that we must remember. We need to know what happened and why. Our voices are powerful, and they can make a difference.
About the Authors
David Levithan is Editorial Director at Scholastic Books and author of many acclaimed YA books, including Every Day, Answers in the Pages, and Boy Meets Boy. His bestselling collaborations include Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist; Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares and The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily (with Rachel Cohn); and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (with John Green). Levithan has received the Chicago Tribune Young Adult Literary Award and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. Two Boys Kissing was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
Dr. Gabriel Duckels is an Early Career Research Fellow in Education at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge. His research combines children’s literature and childhood studies; queer studies; HIV/AIDS sociology; and the study of aesthetics, culture, and pedagogy. Duckels’s research has been published in the Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, the European Journal of Cultural Studies, and elsewhere. The Fight of Our Lives is his first book.
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