The incidents all happened, and the voices are as close to reality as I can make them.Īlthough I used fictional techniques to write this book, I can verify my feelings about everything that happened-and feelings are the most important part of any story. Since I have no transcript of these events, the dialogue is not strictly accurate, but the people mentioned are all real people. Those months, more than any other time of my life, molded my personality. I was astonished by the intense emotions these memories brought with them. When I began to write about my polio days, long-forgotten memories bubbled to the surface.
There are no miracle medicines to stop the damage to nerve cells or repair those already damaged. If the virus kills many nerve cells, paralysis will be extensive and possibly permanent. If damage to the nerve cells is slight, the muscle weakness will be temporary. The polio virus attacks the nerve cells which control the muscles of the body. The disease’s full name is poliomyelitis, or infantile paralysis, but it is usually called polio.
There was only one case diagnosed that year in Austin, Minnesota: a twelve-year-old girl, Peg Schulze. It is a highly contagious disease, and in 1949 there were 42,033 cases reported in the United States. He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, using hip-high leg braces and a cane when he needed to stand to make a speech.Ĭhildren, however, are more likely to get polio than adults are. A president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, got polio as a young father. Read moreīefore a polio vaccine was developed, polio killed or crippled thousands of people each year. With the humor and suspense that are her trademarks, acclaimed author Peg Kehret vividly recreates the true story of her year of heartbreak and triumph. At first paralyzed and terrified, she fought her way to recovery, aided by doctors and therapists, a loving family, supportive roommates fighting their own battles with the disease, and plenty of grit and luck.
Peg Kehret was stricken with polio when she was twelve years old. 1997 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readersġ998 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award (Vermont)ġ998-1999 Texas Bluebonnet Award, Runner-Upġ998-1999 William Allen White Master Reading List (Kansas)ġ998-1999 Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Master Listġ998-1999 Sequoyah Book Award Master List (Oklahoma)ġ998-1999 Volunteer State Book Award Master List (Tennessee)ġ998-1999 NH Great Stone Face Children's Book Award Master Listġ999 Sasquatch Reading Award Master List (Washington State)Ģ000-2001 Iowa Children's Choice Awards Master ListĢ001 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Master List (Illinois)
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