Small Steps and Breathing Room

This week, I've read two middle grade books that would go hand-in-hand for a booktalk with third graders and up. One is non-fiction while the other is fiction, but both tell the story of young girls being sent away to recover from childhood diseases that have mostly been eradicated in the modern era.



Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret
Which readers? 3rd grade and up

This autobiography by Peg Kehret recounts her experiences as a polio victim when she was twelve. She was first sent to the hospital and eventually to a rehab facility, and her tale tells of both the relationships she builds and the obstacles she must overcome in recovery. The writing is honest and tells of the many unpleasant parts of polio treatment without being too overwhelming with the details for young readers. She encounters the good, the bad, and the very best among caregivers and patients, and I was cheering for them all by the end. I pored over the epilogue to see what had happened to each person, and that is always a great indicator of how invested I have become in the book.



Breathing Room by Marsha Hayles
Which readers? Strong 3rd grade readers and up

This fictional novel tells the story of thirteen year old tuberculosis patient Evvy Hoffmeister. Quiet and introspective Evvy has always had people to rely on - her parents, her twin, and even the girls she befriends in her room at the sanatorium. When she is all alone at the sanatorium and some of her new friends fall severely ill, will she alone be enough to support herself and come to the aid of her new friends?

These books paint quite the picture when presented together. While both stories involve girls who are hospitalized away from their families, Kehret's autobiography tells the tale of a much more friendly and loving situation . Hayles's research has shown that sanatoriums were not always nurturing facilities in which to convalesce. Patients were often kept in the dark about their own care and treated as if they were being punished. Even though Hayles presents this unpleasant side of TB history, Evvy's story, while presenting the sad reality of TB, is one of quiet strength and triumph.