![]() ![]() ![]() This adds a gripping element even when she’s gotten through the worst of her illness. So she brings all of the storytelling skills from her previous career to bear on this tale from her past.Īlthough we know Peg survives (since she grows up to write the book), it’s uncertain how long she’ll take to recover or if she’ll regain any use of her limbs. Peg grows up to become a writer, and she had a successful career (mostly focusing on animals or scary stories) before writing this book. I also wanted to write about this book because it was one of the best family read-alouds we did during quarantine, and ought to be better known. Books for young readers have the happy endings that adult authors rarely do, and there was something comforting about knowing others had survived the spread of contagious diseases.Įveryone in this story is either described or presumed white, but many characters, including the author/narrator, experience physical disability as a from the polio epidemic. When COVID hit, I went through a phase of reading children’s books about other epidemics. ![]() ![]() Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret. Seven months in 12 year old Peg’s life, starting in September 1949 shortly before she became ill, and continuing with her illness and survival for the rest of that school year. NOTE: This review is of the nonfiction polio narrative, not the fictional Louis Sachar Holes sequel. Middle grade nonfiction/memoir, 168 pages + preview. Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret.Īlbert Whitman & Company, Chicago, IL, 1996. ![]()
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