In my upcoming blogs, I will be introducing a theme – What People are Saying About Grounded.
I will include comments from people from different walks of life, different ages and occupations as well as friends and acquaintances.
If you have read my novel Grounded and/or may have used the accompanying activity book, I would love to hear from you.
This first offering is from a friend who says she talked about my novel with her elderly father who then talked about remembering that era.
Grounded brought me back to 1953 when I was just 2 years old. My neighbour, Wendy, a young girl just a few years older than me, was left with a limp from polio. I thought I was the different one and I would limp along with her when we played. Grounded reminded me of how fortunate I was to not have succumbed to polio. Grounded reminded me of the people in our community with leg braces and of the school bus making its stops on our street to pick up children who attended the Centre for Crippled Children on Bayview Avenue. Grounded reminded me of the word “iron lung” – a word I hadn’t thought about for many years. Grounded reminded me that out of every epidemic emerges a hero – Dr. Salk. He became the subject of book reports and essays throughout our school years. Grounded reminded me of the love and friendship we shared with our friends in the 1950’s. We played and explored together, and treated each other with respect, loyalty, kindness and truly treasured these friendships, just the way Marie, Billie and Ricky did. These were the days before social media shaming and bullying, and Shirley has truly captured the spirit of those carefree days. Grounded took me back to my summers in Toronto and looking forward to the Canadian National Exhibition. The anticipation and excitement of a day at the Ex was exactly like Shirley painted it. Shirley’s clear, concise, accurate portrayal of life in the 1950’s is exactly how I remember it. I would highly recommend that Grounded be on the shelf in every school library. It accurately portrays life in the 1950’s, and the struggles on daily life and the life-long effects of this devastating epidemic. It will open up a discussion that children could have with their parents and grandparents.