Giveaway: Polio Boulevard

Summary: A unique chronicle of childhood polio told with a remarkable blend of provocative reflection, humor, and pluck.

In 1954, Karen Chase was a ten-year-old girl playing Monopoly in the polio ward when the radio blared out the news that Dr. Jonas Salk had developed the polio vaccine. The discovery came too late for her, and Polio Boulevard is Chase’s unique chronicle of her childhood while fighting polio. From her lively sickbed she experiences puppy love, applies to the Barbizon School of Modeling, and dreams of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a polio patient who became President of the United States.

Chase, now an accomplished poet who survived her illness, tells a story that flows backward and forward in time from childhood to adulthood. Woven throughout are the themes of how private and public history get braided together, how imagination is shaped when your body can’t move but your mind can, and how sexuality blooms in a young girl laid up in bed. Chase’s imagination soars in this narrative of illness and recovery, a remarkable blend of provocative reflection, humor, and pluck. -- Excelsior Editions/State University of New York Press

As we approach the 60th year anniversary of the polio vaccine, there is a memoir that's especially timely -- POLIO BOULEVARD by Karen Chase. Ms. Chases was a 10 year old little girl living in a polio ward when the vaccine was announced, so unfortunately it was too late to help her.  However, she managed to survive this illness and become an accomplished poet. In POLIO BOULEVARD, she tells her story of growing up while battling polio and provides insight into her very special life.

Thanks to Tandem Literary, I have a copy of POLIO BOULEVARD for one lucky reader. To enter, just fill out the form below before October 8th at 11:59 p.m. EST. I will randomly select and notify the winner the following day. This contest is open to those of you with continental U.S. addresses only. Good luck!