Beautifully written, very intense story. That said, there was something about the main character and her development that didn't come as a surprise... The ending not being very subtle, nor unexpected.

"It takes guts to be handicapped."
I’ve literally highlighted the entire book, but this quote was my favorite. Being disabled, or handicapped as Francine prefers it, is not for the fainthearted. I lost track of how long it took me to finish this book. The first half was too painful for me, it brought too many memories back to the surface, memories of my childhood at hospitals which always haunt me, but I try not to think about. Francine and I have different disabilities, and we are from different generations and countries, but it’s the first time I could actually relate to someone’s experiences. This is why we need diverse books.
The book is actually intended to able-body people, I think this is the only thing I didn’t like because Francine’s story felt so personal to me, so it kind of offended me when she spoke to a reader who didn’t understand how hard living with a disability actually is. In her book, Francine tells us how polio affected her life, but she never let it define it. She dealt with her obstacles with creative, smart solutions and never let her lazy leg stopped her from living her life. Frankly, I wish I could have read this book when I was younger (although the bits about drugs wouldn’t have been age-appropriate haha), it would have been amazing to know there was somebody out there who went through problems like mine and she still had a full life. I cried a lot while reading this book, I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish it but I’m so happy I did.

The author does an amazing job of allowing the reader to feel her pain and triumphs after she contracts polio at the age of 3 and struggled with the physical and emotional aftereffects throughout life as she attempted to be a "normie" and fit in. Even though she only had to use her "Kenny Sticks" for a period of time, she felt the emotional effects for decades. Great writing, make sure you have tissues handy when you read this one!

Francine Falk-Allen is, thankfully, one of a small and shrinking group--survivors of polio. Polio has all but been eradicated, but Falk-Allen and others do continue to live with the effects of the once-common disease. As a child in the 1950s, Falk-Allen contracted polio and ended up with a partially paralyzed leg. Throughout her life she has used crutches, limped, used a cane, worn a variety of orthotics or braces, or some combination of all of the above. She writes about her life in Not a Poster Child: Living Well with a Disability--A Memoir.


The subtitle tells the story in a nutshell. Despite her disability and the other setbacks she had--of which there are many--Falk-Allen persisted in life, finding varying measures of happiness, satisfaction, and success. She writes that in college, and really in many stages of her life, she "was trying so hard to be like everyone else that my self-image did not involve identifying with the group called 'disabled.'" I suppose this is common among people with disabilities like hers. One friend told her, "You're not disabled, you just have a limp."


But while her disability might seem of little consequence to the casual observers, she details the many ways in which it affects her. Fatigue. The inconvenience of not being able to walk long distances. Having to buy two pairs of shoes every time. (Her feet are 4 sizes apart in size.) The back and hip problems that result from her leg paralysis. The self-image issues. Wondering if anyone would love her romantically.


I enjoyed her honesty and transparency about her struggles. I did, at times, wish she'd had an editor with a big red pen. She included way too much information about her "becoming a woman," her troubled family, her free love and drug use stages, her Sufism, and more. Granted, this all tells the story of who she is, but really it wore me out. Snow skiing with a disability: good stuff. Advocacy for disabled people whose disabilities may not be immediately evident: important. Some of the other stuff, I could do without.


Falk-Allen's memoir is a word of encouragement especially for women with physical disabilities who wonder if they can have a fulfilling life. Her story answers a resounding yes, while not sugar coating the difficulties she has faced.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

https://medium.com/@michellereneekidwell_95261/book-review-not-a-poster-child-c6873372afb2?source=linkShare-fc43cf21e946-1531518909