I’ve been slowly sipping this memoir, because on pretty much every page, there’s something I need to think about. Alice Wong, who has a progressive neuromuscular disease, is a disability activist. The title refers to the Chinese calendar; Wong was born in the year of the tiger. She has put together a patchwork of her writing and interviews, as well as photos and artwork. In doing so, she gives a comprehensive picture of what life has been like for her as a wheelchair-bound woman who needs a Bi-pap machine to breathe. Wong is intelligent and articulate, describing the difficulties in getting a college education just as ADA became law—no handicap-accessible bathrooms, sometimes no way to enter campus buildings. Reading this memoir has given me much to be thankful for and to pay attention to. My only gripe is that the font changes, and sometimes is too small for me to read easily. But the book is worth the effort.
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What I’m ReadingI began working in libraries as a seventh grader, courtesy of scoliosis. My orthopedic surgeon wrote me a pass to miss gym class, so I began working in the school library to feed my love of reading. Even after my surgery to correct the curvature, I kept getting out of gym to work in my high school library and then in my college library (for pay, at last!).
So began my eventual career as a college reference librarian—after a detour into teaching high school English. Later I worked for an educational publisher before going back to libraries.
I have a reading and writing life now. I devour both fiction and nonfiction, and will tell you about some of my favorite reads, both old friends and new discoveries.
Here's some library-themed music to get you in the mood.
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