This book is an autobiography about Peg and her struggle with some bad news. It all starts when Peg collapses in the hallway at school, then gets a bad headache when she gets home. Her concerned parents take her to the doctor who eventually figures out that she has polio. She is twelve years old.
Peg is put in Sheltering Arms Hospital where she shares a room with Shirley, Alice, Dorothy, and Ren’ee, other girls that are around her age. Peg’s parents bring her gifts when they visit her for the first time, but then they find out she has roommates whose parents aren’t around much. When they visit the next time, Peg’s parents bring gifts for all of the girls. The girls really like it because they feel like part of a family (since most of their real families haven’t visited in 7-8 months or more). It really means a lot to Alice, whose parents never visit her because they think she is too ugly. When it’s time for Peg to leave Sheltering Arms, she wants to go home but doesn’t want to leave all of the close friends she’s made in the time that she’s been there.
The purpose of this autobiography is to help readers understand the trials Dorothy, Re’nee, Alice, Shirley and Peg go through and how these girls find refuge and escape from their illnesses in each other. When they are together, they can be girlfriends, instead of sick kids.
I give this book a five star rating (more if I had more stars to give) because of the description of how these girls lean on each other and the fight they put up to stay alive.
Faith, I like the links. It must have been interesting to see that these hospitals were real places. It is interesting how author's sometimes put real places and problems in their stories. I have a good friend who had polio as a child. She is paralyzed in her right arm still today from the disease. This post has made me curious about this book; I'm placing it on my to read list.
ReplyDeleteMrs. G.