Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

Peg learns to play the accordion in occupational therapy because it exercises certain muscles of the arms and hands, and her father encourages her by attempting to play it himself, even renting an accordion and practicing secretly to surprise her. The girls attend school at the Sheltering Arms, and Peg reads adult books such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, War and Peace, and The Scarlet Letter. She also obtains textbooks from her school in Austin, along with the weekly assignments. Because Peg has missed so much school and her hand tires quickly, she’s not required to complete or turn in the assignments, but at the end of the year, she can take the final exams and move on to eighth grade if she passes. If not, she’ll have to repeat the seventh grade. No one forces Peg to do the assignments, but she gladly teaches herself because she doesn’t want to be left behind.

Curious about Sister Elizabeth Kenny and her “Torture Time” treatment methods, Peg reads about her in newspapers and magazines. Sister Kenny served as a nurse in World War I as a commissioned “Sister,” which Peg learns is “an Australian military term, the equivalent of a first lieutenant in the United States Army” (131).