Small Steps

The Year I Got Polio (Anniversary Edition)

Plot Summary

Ten years ago, In a riveting story of courage and hope, Peg Kehret wrote of months spent in a hospital when she was twelve, first struggling to survive a severe case of polio, then slowly learning to walk again. The book deeply touched readers of all ages and received many awards and honors. This anniversary edition includes an updated and extended epilogue about the author's experiences since the original publication. It also includes twelve pages of new photos and a lengthy section about polio, past and present.

 

This 10th Anniversary Edition will inspire a whole new generation of readers. Those readers who already love it will find themselves reaching for it one more time.

Please note that the Anniversary Edition is available in HARDCOVER only. The paperback version listed below is of the original edition, not the Anniversary Edition.

Awards

1996 Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction; 1997 ALA Notable Books for Children; 1997 Pen Center USA West Literar Award; 1997 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers; 1998 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award (Vermont); 1998 Joan Fassler Memorial Book Award; 1998-1999 Mark Twain Award (Missouri); 1998-1999 NH Great Stone Face Children's Book Award Master List; 1998-1999 Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Master List; 1998-1999 Sequoyah Book Award Master List (Oklahoma); 1998-1999 Texas Bluebonnet Award, Runner-Up; 1998-1999 Volunteer State Book Award Master List (Tennessee); 1998-1999 William Allen White Master Reading List (Kansas); 1999 Sasquatch Reading Award Master List (Washington State); 2000-2001 Iowa Children's Choice Awards Master List; 2001 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award Master List (Illinois); 2001 Young Hoosier Book Award

Reviews

"From a writer known for her fiction, a moving memoir about a 12-year-old who got polio in 1949 in Austin, Minnesota, Kehret describes the disease, the diagnosis, the severe symptoms, treatments, physical therapy, slow recovery, and return home with walking sticks—and how she was forever changed. . . A simple, direct, and sometimes self-deprecating style of writing tenderly draws readers into Kehret's experiences and the effects of the disease firsthand. Almost a half-century later, this lovely book refocuses attention on what matters most: health, love of family, friends, determination, generosity, and compassion." POINTER, Kirkus Reviews

"She writes in an approachable, familiar way, and readers will be hooked from the first page on. . . . Although this is an excellent record of the progress of the disease, it is also a fascinating account of how an ordinary girl with crushes and homecoming dreams had to live for part of her adoloescence in an artifical, restricted environment. . . . An honest and well-done book." STARRED, School Library Journal

Associated Keywords
autobiography, authors, diseases, nonfiction, anniversary, ten,