Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret is the true story of Peg Schulze (Kehret), and her experience with polio at age 12. She was in 7th grade in Austin, Minnesota when her leg began twitching uncontrollably. As she left her chorus class, her legs buckled and Peg fell in the hall. When she got home from school that day, she was exhausted and had a high fever. This was the beginning of a long battle with polio, a disease that paralyzes people and causes strong and uncontrollable and excruciating muscle spasms. Through this painful and terrifying experience, Peg fought hard for recovery.This book was AWESOME!! I was vaccinated against polio as a child, like all children are today, so I never feared this disease. I never really knew what the disease did until I read this book. I have had many 6th graders recommend this book to me, and now I see why - it is honest and triumphant. I will certainly be passing on the recommendation to new readers!
This video shows Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, and discusses some of the effects of the disease.
1 comment:
I read this book in 4th or 5th grade. It was really good! I liked how Peg could write the story about herself because she said what it could really feel like to have polio. This book was really sad at some parts. When I first read this, it made me sad when she said she woke up and couldn't move her arms! It was a happy ending because she doesn't have polio anymore! :)
~Maddie Bohrnstedt~
Core 5 (Core 5 is better than Core 4!)
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