Poster Child

“You can’t put down this excellent memoir . . . beautifully illustrates every human being’s . . . struggle against the intractability of our . . . physical condition.” —Carolyn See, Washington Post

From the New York Times–bestselling author of The Still Point of the Turning World

Emily Rapp was born with a congenital defect that required, at the age of four, that her left foot be amputated. By the time she was eight she'd had dozens of operations, had lost most of her leg, from just above the knee, and had become the smiling, indefatigable “poster child” for the March of Dimes. For years she made appearances at church suppers and rodeos, giving pep talks about how normal and happy she was. All the while she was learning to live with what she later described as “my grievous, irrevocable flaw,” and the paradox that being extraordinary was the only way to be ordinary.

“Memoir at its finest. Emily Rapp has crafted a book that’s both descriptive and reflective, poignant yet never self-indulgent, with a breathtaking final scene.” —Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters

“[Rapp’s] cauterizing specificity is compelling, her candor incandescent and her intelligence, courage and spiritual diligence stupendous . . . there isn’t one false note here.” —Donna Seaman, Los Angeles Times

“Revelatory and emotional, truthful and empathetic.” —Christina Eng, San Francisco Chronicle

“Mature and graceful . . . this book is a blessing.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Emily Rapp brilliantly succeeds at communicating the pain, shame and profound strangeness she experienced as a young amputee.” —Donna Minkowitz, Newsday

“Riveting.” —Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times