Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Chasing Orion


Title:               Chasing Orion
Category:       Juvenile
Grade:            5-9
Author:          Kathryn Laskey
Illustrator:      N/A
Publisher:       Candlewick
Date:               2010
Pages:             362



Summary:     
Though Georgie reads polio statistics in the paper daily and sees victims on TV, she never expected to find a polio victim in the backyard next door.  Teenaged Phyllis is in an iron lung and seems hungry for company – both Georgie’s and her good-looking elder brother Emmett’s.  As Georgie gets to know Phyllis better, she realizes that much of her happy persona is, in fact, a lie, and all Phyllis really wishes for is death – freedom from her iron prison.  And Emmett, thinking he is helping her recuperate, may be just the person to help Phyllis accomplish her goal. 

Review:
Though length and content may not be appropriate for a younger reader, this story was well told and quite fascinating with a unique subject matter.  Lasky not only entertains her readers but raises several questions worthy of discussion that surrounded the polio epidemic of the fifties.

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