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"Chasing Orion," by Kathryn Lasky Published by Candlewick Press 362 pages Recommended for age 10 and older
Kathryn Lasky is the author of more than 100 (!) books for kids and adults, including the very popular fantasy series "The Guardians of Ga'hoole." But her newest story deals with life issues that real kids face and not the struggles of battling owl clans.
As "Chasing Orion" begins, it's the summer of 1952 in Indiana, and 11-year-old Georgie is not allowed to go to the pool or the movies because there's an outbreak of a disease called polio. New to the neighborhood, the creative and curious girl becomes slightly obsessed with polio, and every day she reads the newspaper to learn about new cases.
When Georgie discovers that her neighbor, Phyllis, has the disease and lives in a machine called an iron lung, which helps her breathe, Georgie is shocked and intrigued. She and her older brother, Emmett, befriend the pretty, flirtatious Phyllis, who must live lying down with her head and neck sticking out of the big iron cylinder. Life, Georgie realizes, is unfair.
Meanwhile, Georgie's new friend Evelyn is weird and slightly embarrassing, all of Georgie's old friends live far away and the summer is hot and boring. Georgie passes the time by making a diorama of the constellation Orion and looking at the stars through a telescope.
Georgie becomes engrossed and a little haunted by Phyllis, and she and Evelyn start to sneak across the lawn to spy on Emmett and Phyllis. As Georgie tries to figure the sick girl out and Emmett starts to fall for her, Georgie becomes more wary of Phyllis's intentions.
The book is told in the first person by Georgie, a fun, imaginative girl. But the book is also about Georgie and her relationship with her older brother, who is growing up and moving away from her.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
The Washington Post book review:
