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Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio

4.35 of 5 stars 4.35 · rating details · 1,522 ratings · 316 reviews

Ten years ago, in a riveting story of courage and hope, Peg Kehret wrote of the months she spent in a hospital when she was 12. The book deeply touched readers of all ages and received many awards and honors. This anniversary edition includes an updated and extended Epilogue, 12 pages of new photos, and a new section about polio.

Hardcover, 205 pages

Published January 1st 2006 by Albert Whitman & Company (first published January 1st 1996)

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Feb 07, 2013 Sofia A. added it

1:17:13

I am currently reading this awesome good book. This book is about a 12 year old girl who got three types of Polio. She had to race to the hospital because it was serious. I once had to go to the hospital because I pnemonia. I was only in Kindergarten. In the story she said she had to move to a different hospital because the first hospital could not handle this really bad sickness. At first she could not breathe by herself so she had to use an iron lung. In the book she said that when you...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Kasey H rated it 4 of 5 stars

February 4, 2013

I am currently reading Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, by Peg Kehret. I think that Peg Kehret is so smart to write a story about herself! From the title- it looks like this book is about the year Peg Kehret got Polio. There is no paragraph or sentence that I don't like! I can't stop reading it! Every sentence is rich with descriptive words, action verbs, and everything that makes a sentence good. Actions and nouns, and descriptions- OH MY! You get my point!
Most people have...more February 4, 2013

I am currently reading Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, by Peg Kehret. I think that Peg Kehret is so smart to write a story about herself! From the title- it looks like this book is about the year Peg Kehret got Polio. There is no paragraph or sentence that I don't like! I can't stop reading it! Every sentence is rich with descriptive words, action verbs, and everything that makes a sentence good. Actions and nouns, and descriptions- OH MY! You get my point!
Most people have read this book by fifth grade, because it was so popular, but I'm one of those people who like to wait until the book isn't popular anymore, and it's not hard to check out. I like to wait for the right time. Like Peg does in this book. She's waiting for the right time for her to conquer her Polio. Peg knows that moment is going to come. What makes her want to do it even more is that she's doing it for one of her SPECIAL doctors, from the hospital. He is a doctor from her old hospital, but she got moved to a different one because her conditions got- no need for me to spoil the book!
Peg has been going through some hard times, so she needs her friends to help her through it. New friends, new friends, new friends, she's got that finished! New friends are coming from everywhere, which she loves, of course! She loves her roommates! They play, they joke, they even sing with her before she goes to bed! Like Peg, I couldn't live without my friends. There has been tons of times where my friends have had to help me through hard situations, but those situations are not exactly like Pegs. I wasn't the best at spending the night over at my friends houses. It was dark and different than I was used to. Don't worry, they helped me over that by making every sleepover special and fun! I feel comfortable now when I spend the night with my friends. I couldn't live without them!
This story is slow paced and very focused on Peg. If you like those types of books, then here's a book to consider! Well, that is if you haven't read it yet!(less)

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Dec 11, 2012 Faith K rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although I haven't read to much of this book I'm in Love with it! It goes in to so much detail and it is definitely character driven. This book tells the story of a girl who obviously got polio. It tells a out her struggles and how she reacts to them. She is so upset and she is super scared. Who wouldn't? She has two different types of polio, one that causes her to not be able to move her arms and legs and one that causes her not to breath very easily.if I was her I would be screaming but she is...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Melissa K. rated it 5 of 5 stars

"P-O-L-I-O" Those were the words that Peg and her parents never expected. I don't think you can expect it to.
It all started one afternoon when Peg was noticing a hot fever (103 degress) and muscle cramps. When she went to the doctor, they assumed that she had the flu. The fever contiued for a couple of days. When she woke up the next morning, she was paralyzed! The doctor took Peg to the hospital. There, they diagnosed her with polio, but not just one, three types, bulbar, spinal, and respirator...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Maddie D rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

3RD RESPONSE:

I am currently reading Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio. This book is by Peg Kehret and this story actually happened to her. So far it has been a great book because I love how Peg tries to overcome polio. This book is about Peg Kehret getting a major virus called polio. But what makes it worse is that she doesn't just have one type of polio, she has three kinds of polio. Peg is only in the seventh grade and now she is paralyzed from the neck down and can barely breathe or swallow....more

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Dec 03, 2012 Nouara Y. rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am currently reading Small Steps by Peg Kehret. Small Steps is one of the best books I have ever read, it is about the author, Peg getting a disease called polio. Polio can be a deadly disease, but other cases of polio are different and you can get better within a year. Peg was diagnosed with polio at the age of 12, almost 13. She had to go to a hospital about 2 hours away from her house, the hospital was in Minneapolis and she lived in Austin. She had a hard time breathing so she had to be in...more

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Feb 08, 2009 Mary rated it 5 of 5 stars

it was the best book ever

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Mar 29, 2013 Shruti S rated it 5 of 5 stars

This true story is about a girl named Peg and how her life changed when she got polio. This story starts out when Peg suddenly gets a spasm in her leg at school. In 1948 when this story is set, polio still can be a deadly disease.
This book showed me the differences between a realistic fiction and and true story written in the form of an autobiography. The book I am comparing this t is The Running Dream. Small Steps described snapshots of events from the writer's memory whereas Running Dream flo...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Meghan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Small Steps: the year i got polio Houghton Mifflin,1996,174 pp.,$6.99
ISBN 0-618-06274-2

“Your daughter has polio.”
Those were the four words that Peg and her parents never expected. After that it all got worse.
peg got sick and confined from her parents. She was stuck in a room with no one at all.
When she moved to the Sheltering Arms polio care center she hated it immediately.
She stops getting to see her parents. Over a short period of time she reaches a point where they cant take care of her anym...more

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May 15, 2011 Elizabetht rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: independent-reading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I absolutely loved this book! It was the second time I have read it, but I got more out of it by rereading it! The story, about a young girl who gets polio, should be sad, and it is, but the way that Peg Kehret writes it makes it just an all-around great, heart-warming novel that almost takes away from the sadness of it. The book starts with Peg, only twelve years old, in chorus class at school. Her leg started to twitch, and though she did her best to stop it, it continued to jerk. Then, sudden...more I absolutely loved this book! It was the second time I have read it, but I got more out of it by rereading it! The story, about a young girl who gets polio, should be sad, and it is, but the way that Peg Kehret writes it makes it just an all-around great, heart-warming novel that almost takes away from the sadness of it. The book starts with Peg, only twelve years old, in chorus class at school. Her leg started to twitch, and though she did her best to stop it, it continued to jerk. Then, suddenly, on her way to her locker, she fell. Her legs just gave out on her and when she went home for lunch, her mom took her temperature and found that she had a fever. Needless to say, she stayed home from school for the rest of the day. Peg felt very achy and her muscles were sore. When a doctor was called, Dr. Wright, and after some tests were done, it was found out that Peg had polio. At this point in the story, even though I was just a few pages in, I wanted to keep reading and reading! It was so good! Peg had to go to Minneapolis, where there was a special hospital only for people with polio. Obviously, Peg was very scared, shocked, and upset. She had to leave her house so suddenly that she was not even able to say bye to her dog, B.J., or her grandpa, for fear of spreading the polio. Right away, Peg was checked into the hospital, Sheltering Arms, and put into isolation. One of the scariest parts, I think, was when you find out that when Peg wakes up from a nap, she is completely paralyzed. This caught me totally by surprise, even reading it for the second time! A doctor came in immediately to see what was the matter, and when told to move a body part or hold it in the air by herself, Peg could not do it. She was paralyzed from the neck down, and to add to her misery, Peg could not see her parents because she had to be kept in complete isolation. I felt so bad for Peg! Then, even worse, Peg finds out that she has not one, but two types of polio, one being spinal polio and the other being respiratory polio. Spinal polio is what caused the paralysis, while the respiratory polio caused a difficulty in breathing. As Peg had both types of polio, she had to be sent to the University of Minnesota Hospital where they had different ways of treating and helping the polio that Sheltering Arms did not. When she got to the University of Minnesota Hospital, Peg found out more bad news: she had bulbar polio, which was the most serious and dangerous form of polio. It makes it difficult to talk and swallow. This was terrible news! Though, a happy event did occur when Peg, against the hospital's rules, drinks a chocolate milkshake to save her life. Peg was given an oxygen tent to help her breathing and when she still couldn't swallow very comfortably, she said she wanted a milkshake, and her parents got her one. She was surprisingly able to drink the chocolate milkshake, and this enabled her to be able to drink much more as well and lowered her temperature, which may have saved her life entirely! Meanwhile, doctors were constantly seeing Peg. Her favorite doctor was Dr. Bevis, who was young and very nice. Eventually, Peg was able to move out of isolation, though she unfortunately found out that all of her stuff had to be burned in order to not spread the polio. When transferred, Peg was in a room with a young boy, Tommy. Tommy was in an iron lung, which was a machine that breathed for him, though it required his entire body to be encased and only his little head peaked out. Soon enough, Peg started therapy. The therapy was a part of the Sister Kenny treatments, which consisted of hot packs and physical therapy. Also, Dr. Bevis made Peg promise that one day she would get better and walk for him. Needless to say, Peg agreed to promise and this was her goal. Peg hated the hot packs, and she hated what she called "Torture Time," or physical therapy. To pass the time though, Tommy and Peg listened to the "Lone Ranger" on a radio that her parents had brought her. One special day, October first, Peg moved her fingers! This was huge, and I was even happy for her! Peg's strength had finally returned, and though her muscles were still weak, she was not completely paralyzed. A little while later, Peg finds out that she can move back to Sheltering Arms because the University of Minnesota Hospital no longer has anything special to provide for her that Sheltering Arms cannot. Back at the Sheltering Arms, instead of being in isolation, this time Peg was in a room with four other young girls who also had polio, Dorothy, Shirley, Alice, and Renée. They continue with their routines, consisting of therapy and hot packs and some other ways to help them recover. Sundays are visiting days though, so Peg looks forward to being able to see her parents. She does not realize that none of the other girls have visitors, so after this, she gladly "shares" her family with them. For the next few weeks, everyone looks forward to Sundays, and her parents bring the girls little treats. On Peg's thirteenth birthday, her parents come and they have a party, which is very fun! I was very happy that Peg was able to celebrate! Her progress also increases. Soon she is given a wheelchair and can move around a little more because of it. She loves her wheelchair so much, and becomes a little daring, doing tricks down the halls. She is doing so well as far as her progress goes that the nurses and doctors allow her to go home for a one night trip with her parents. This is not as much fun as she thought it would be though, because she was not yet well enough to go up the stairs to her room, and she felt very helpless outside of the hospital, in the real world. Back at the hospital, though, she does feel great and is soon given walking sticks instead of a wheel chair. This is a good sign of improvement. When Christmas comes around, the hospital does a pageant and Peg is Mary because she is able to walk well enough to play the part. Everything is a blur during Christmas, because Peg once agains goes home, with more success this time. She is doing better than before, and with her sticks, she can move around more. Her progress only increases, and eventually, when she can walk by herself, Peg is told that she can go home for good! I was so excited at this point, too! Though, of course Peg is sad to leave her friends, who she has become very close with, and they agree to keep in touch, even though she will still need checkups. Peg did not forget to show Dr. Bevis that she can walk all by herself, and they give him a tie as a gift for his generosity and care. At school, despite her fears otherwise, everyone is very nice to Peg and offers to help her. The futures of the other girls are stated, and it is even said that Peg marries someone and becomes an author, one of her dreams! I was so glad that Peg could still live a somewhat normal life, despite her struggles with polio. All in all, this book was fantastic! Not only was it written so well that I felt like I knew the characters, but it was also funny, yet sad, suspenseful, page-turning, and just an all-around great, heart-warming story! I loved every page! (less)

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May 11, 2011 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book because it contributes to a major event taking place in the 1950's, the decade of which also was assigned to me to study in history class. However, I found that "Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio," not only helped my historical understanding of the fifties, but was very interesting and page-turning.

The author, Peg Kehret, writes about her personal catastrophe that not only changed her life, but affected medical history and thousands of other patients diagnosed with polio. Being...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Beth Nieman rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a fantastic book. I just wish it had a recent copyright so I could recommend it for LOE! I literally could not put it down. Kehret writes in a straightforward and entertaining manner about her sudden polio symptons at age 13, her trip to the emergency room, and the experience of waking up paralyzed.

However, the story doesn't end there--in fact, it's just the beginning. She meets wonderful doctors, nurses and has four roommates, all girls, her own age, and they go through therapy together,...more

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Aug 26, 2009 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: middle-school-books, nonfiction

In 1949, when Peg Schulze (Kehret) was 12 she was diagnosed with spinal, respiratory and bulbar polio. Fortunately, her virus was diagnosed quickly and she was sent to a specialized hospital where she received treatments that may have prevented her from permanent paralysis. In this book she tells of the months she spent in the hospital and in rehab. She describes the pain, fear, and frustration of those months, undergoing the Kenney treatment of hot packs and muscle stretching, learning to move,...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Annette rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: battle-of-the-books, favorites, juvenile-fiction, 5-star-fictional-favorites, true-stories

I went to the Washington Elementary library where my daughters go to school and told the librarian that my daughter was involved in BofBs and what would she recommend and she said that every child that she recommends this book to loves it. Well, we were no exception!

I read this book to all three of my girls ages, 9, 11 and 21. Every time I got to the end of a chapter the girls would beg me to keep reading. They totally couldn't wait to see what would happen to Peg next. We all came to love the c...more

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Jan 29, 2009 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: nonfiction, teen-nonfiction, with-reviews, read-in-2009

This was a very well written and engaging autobiography about the year author Peg Kehret got polio when she was 12 years old. Even though the events of this book occured in the late 1940s, Kehret writes in a style that makes it easy for teens to relate to her situation, and feelings. She reacts in the same ways modern teens may react to an illness, bridging the gap between the generations. She descibes the debiliating illness, introduces the reader to the victims who were teens who had feelings...more

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May 27, 2012 Brittney rated it 5 of 5 stars

In this book a 13 year old girl named Peg gets diagnosed with polio. She has to go to different hospitals and try to get cured. She had to go through hot packs, wheelchairs, laying in bed all day and re-learning how to walk. She goes through so much and tries everything to help her get cured.She had to burn all of the things because of her disease and her and her family were miserable. She had to learn how to adjust to her new life style and so did everyone around her.
This book has not been tur...more

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May 18, 2011 Maddi Baum rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was about a 12 year-old girl who battled three types of polio for seven months. She stayed in a hospital two hours from her home and was treated every day, while keeping up with her school work all on her own. This book was actually written by the girl herself, telling her story later in life. She tells what treatments were like, and of her relationships with her four roommates who had polio as well.
This is one of my favorite books. I read it a long time ago and didn't remember everyth...more

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Mar 01, 2013 findingnina14 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Small Steps: the Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret is a wonderful book. It is a memoir about Peg Kehret’s experience with polio. Polio affected her spinal cord and her lungs. At first Peg was put in an oxygen tent to breath. Once she could breath well enough, Peg was moved to a polio rehabilitation center in Minnesota. The room she stayed in also had four other girls. She quickly bonded with them and they became the best of friends. Peg’s battle was long and hard.
I liked the book because it you can...more

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May 16, 2009 Ophelie rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I picked this book to read I wasn't really thrilled because it sounded kind of depressing and so on but once I read the first page I was hooked.This book was a true story which put all the more emotion into it. The authors feelings were jumping off the page. Small Steps is an amazing story about being diagnosed with polio and trying to fight your way out of it. Peg talks about her battle from beginning to end against her worst opponent. If she wins or not... well that you will have to find...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Zoe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

This book is amazing! It's one of my all-time favorites and I enjoy rereading it frequently. Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio is very well written and engaging, and it also makes the reader increasingly aware of how blessed he (or she) is.

Reading about each respective girl's excitement over finally being able to do things that we wouldn't think twice about — standing on her own, sitting up for a longer period of time — is extremely humbling.

Additionally, this book takes you on an emotional jour...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Kacie rated it 5 of 5 stars

this book is amazing, i love it so much!!! i read this book because my friend shayla showed it to me and said we should read it together, iasked if it was a book i would like and she told me that i would deffinetally like it and sinse she is my best friend i took her word for it!!! at first when i heard what it was about i was like what does polio even mean? and then when shayla got more in depth of what it was about i wanted to read it sooooo bad... when i started reading i loved every minute o...more

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Dec 12, 2008 Annabella rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this book for the book talk assignment. When we first were assigned to pick a biography to read, I thought that I wouldn't be able to find anything that was of interest to me, or that would hold my attention. I was thinking about which book to choose, and then I remembered this book. I think I read it in fifth or sixth grade. I couldn't exactly remember it, so I got it and started reading it. As soon as I started, I could hardly put it down! Most biographies/autobiographies, etc are REALL...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Zach Devine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was one of my favorite books of all time it is very dramatic. It is about a girl named Peg Kehret who was diagnosed with polio. Polio is a disease when you can become paralyzed from the neck down. But in this book Peg was only paralyzed from the waist down and during her time in the hospital she saw others who were diagnosed with the same thing but some were paralyzed from the neck down and she always thought, wow i got lucky. But the time she was in the hospital was a few years and sh...more

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Sep 12, 2011 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, autobiography

Peg is only 12 years old when she contracts polio. Striking her down quickly, she finds herself in a hospital 100 miles from home. Despite trying to make her feel positive, the doctors and nurses are not optimistic about Peg's recovery from her paralysis.

Making the best of her situation, Peg befriends the other Polio victims and tries to lend them some of her positive attitude. Fighting the iron lung, hoping to get out of a wheelchair, fittings for leg braces and walking sticks, wondering what f...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Keith rated it 5 of 5 stars

A great book that really shows the tragic effect that polio had on many lives during the epidemic in the mid twentieth century. Kehret tells her very personal story of triumph over this incredibly destructive disease in a frank manner that perfectly recaptures her young voice. Every child reading this book could immediately relate to her struggle and pain and celebrate along with her during her small steps towards recovery. Though Peg was one of the fortunate people to be diagnosed early and aft...more

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Dec 11, 2009 Mindi Hall rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was so good at describing the devastating physical and emotional effects polio had on people. It is set in the 1950's and the author is stricken with this awful disease called polio. Peg Kehret uses very captivating language that is familiar with the readers. She details her diagnosis, treatment, frustration, and pain. Some of these descriptions might be scary or disturbing for younger students especially her description of the onset of the illness. I felt like this book would give stu...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Suzanne Mueller rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-books

This is an amazing, easy to read description of a young girls account of her struggle with the polio virus. It is geared for young readers and includes pictures of patients in various stages of the disease, including pictures of children in iron lungs. It is a heart wrenching story but very much worth reading. My daughter loves to read and LOVES anything historical. She LOVED this book so much she practically read it to me and we both could not put it down. After reading this story we went on a...more

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Oct 05, 2010 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, parent-child

This memoir makes the very scary experience of a twelve-year-old polio patient immediate and real. Kehret describes her terror as the paralysis spreads and diagnosis follows diagnosis. Having to be left alone in the hospital, with only weekly visits from her parents, forced her to depend on her fellow young patients, some of whom had been abandoned completely by parents unable to cope. Nevertheless, Kehret includes light moments, too--popping wheelies in her wheelchair, singing at night after li...more

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Feb 21, 2010 Karen Wilson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What an amazing story! I started it this morning and didn't want to put it down. I will be giving it to my friends before returning it to the library. A definite must read!!

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Oct 16, 2012 Asher Dossetter rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think that this book is a sad one because of the reason that there is a girl who gets polio who makes her unable to do some things that she was able to do. I also think that the reason for this is unknown, but I think that many people think that it was because of something that was in her body. this book can also be more sad to other readers because the readers may be more sad then myself because they may think that this book is about something that may be more adder than the polio. although,...more

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About Peg Kehret

Peg Kehret writes middle grade fiction and nonfiction. She's won dozens of state children's choice awards, where kids vote for their favorite book.

When she was twelve, Peg was paralyzed with polio. Most of her protagonists are the age she was then.

A volunteer with animal rescue groups, three of Peg's books are co-authored by Pete the Cat."

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