Polio Place

Acclaimed for its sensitive and unflinching prose, this historical narrative and memoir tells the story of a woman who contracts polio as a toddler and grows up with the common attitude that she could "overcome" her disability. The author recounts traumatic operations and intimidating therapies as a child, all the while coping within a dysfunctional family. As an over-exercising adult, she becomes a disability rights advocate who deals afresh with the challenges of post-polio syndrome.