8 Books That Explore HIV/AIDS Across Generations and Genres

Across decades and continents, stories about HIV/AIDS have illustrated the shared humanity at the heart of the global epidemic. Spanning every genre, from historical fiction to graphic novels, these titles invite readers of all ages to explore how they relate to the lives and emotions of those affected by HIV/AIDS. By exploring voices from across continents, we discover that HIV/AIDS is not confined to one place or generation, and that we’re ultimately more alike than we are different.

Middle Grade Reading

Auma’s Long Run by Eucabeth Odhiambo

Auma’s Long Run is a middle-grade novel set in Kenya during the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis. It follows Auma, a talented runner whose dreams of earning a track scholarship are interrupted when illness strikes her family and community. As she navigates loss and responsibility, Auma must decide whether to chase her own future or stay and help those she loves.

Blood Brothers by Rob Sanders

Blood Brothers by Rob Sanders is set in early-1980s Florida at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic. It follows twelve-year-old Calvin Johnston and his brothers—hemophiliacs who test positive for HIV after a blood transfusion—whose secret sparks fear, ostracism, and violence in their supposedly “friendliest” town, forcing Calvin to grapple with prejudice, loss, and whether hope and friendship can survive.

Adult Contemporary + Historical Fiction

If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais

If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais is a sweeping novel set in post-apartheid South Africa. It follows three very different women—Ruth, a socialite; Delilah, a former nun; and Zodwa, a young township woman—whose lives collide when an abandoned baby brings them together. Against a backdrop of political unrest and the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, they must face questions of love, loss, and what it truly means to be a family.

Far and Beyon’ by Unity Dow

Far and Beyon’ is a coming-of-age story set in Botswana in the early years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It follows 13-year-old Mosa, whose family is reeling from loss while she and her siblings face prejudice, poverty, and stigma. Through Mosa’s sharp eyes, the novel explores resilience, injustice, and the fight to claim a hopeful future in the midst of crisis.

Nonfiction

Our Kind of People: Thoughts on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic by Uzodinma Iweala

Our Kind of People: Thoughts on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic explores how HIV/AIDS has shaped lives in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Nigeria. Blending Iweala’s perspective as a physician and novelist, he travels across communities, meeting people both living with the disease and those affected by its ripple effects, to reveal the lived reality behind the statistics. With unflinching honesty, he confronts stigma, misconceptions, loss, and hope to show not just what HIV/AIDS takes, but also what people do to survive, heal, and reclaim identity.

Love, Money, and HIV: Becoming a Modern African Woman in the Age of AIDS by Sanya A. Mojola

Love, Money, and HIV offers a compelling sociological analysis of why young African women face disproportionately high HIV infection rates. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Kenya, Mojola examines how modern consumer desires, gendered economic constraints, and cultural norms intersect to shape risky relationships. This book is essential for readers interested in gender studies, public health, or African development.

28 Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolen

28: Stories of AIDS in Africa is a powerful nonfiction collection that brings the global epidemic to a deeply personal level. Through twenty-eight vivid profiles—from doctors and activists to orphans, grandmothers, and people living with HIV—Nolen reveals the human faces behind the statistics. Spanning countries and cultures, these stories illuminate courage, loss, resilience, and the ongoing fight for hope and dignity across the African continent.

Graphic Novels

Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 by M.K. Czerwiec

Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 is a graphic memoir that opens the doors to Illinois Masonic Medical Center’s HIV/AIDS ward in Chicago during the early 1990s. The author, a nurse, weaves together her own memories with oral histories of patients, staff, and families to explore fear, grief, compassion, and the shifting meaning of care in a time when AIDS was largely incurable. It’s an intimate look at how community forms (and sometimes breaks), how caregivers cope with loss, and how hope begins to emerge even in the darkest moments