Life Prints

After contracting polio, six-year-old Mary Grimley became the nation's first "poster child," photographed with President Roosevelt at his Warm Springs rehabilitation center. But a close look at photos reveals something other than the "cheerful invalid" that the abled expect: mouth closed in a frown, eyes defiant and proud, this bold child is less than impressed with the label of "poor crippled girl."

Mary Mason's life story records her triumph over the limits society sets for the disabled and her later discovery of another barrier—the sexism of friends, family, and even herself as she strives to become a respected scholar. Declared, "concise, clear, sensitive and beautifully written," by Library Journal, Mason's struggle is one of courage as she contends with the forces that seek to define and limit her.