Such a Pretty Girl, Nadina LaSpina
Such a Pretty Girl, Nadina LaSpina
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Such a Pretty Girl
A Story of Struggle, Empowerment, and Disability Pride

Author: Nadina LaSpina

Narrator: Jennifer Jill Araya

Unabridged: 11 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/13/2020


Synopsis

This is Nadina LaSpina's storyfrom her early years in her native Sicily, where she contracts polio as a baby, a fact that makes her the object of well-meaning pity and the target of messages of hopelessness, to her adolescence and youth in America, spent almost entirely in hospitals where she is tortured in the quest for a cure and made to feel that her body no longer belongs to her and to her rebellion and her activism in the disability-rights movement. LaSpinas personal growth parallels the movements political developmentfrom coming together, organizing, and fighting against exclusion from public and social life to the forging of a common identity, the blossoming of disability arts and culture, and the embracing of disability pride. While unique, LaSpina's journey is also one with which many disabled people can identify. It is the journey to find one's place in an ableist worlda world not made for disabled people, where disability is only seen in negative terms. LaSpina refutes all stereotypical narratives of disability. Through the telling of her lifes story, without editorializing, she shows the harm that the overwhelming focus on pity and on a cure that remains elusive has done to disabled people. Her story exposes the disability prejudice ingrained in our sociopolitical system and denounces the oppressive standards of normalcy in a society that devalues those who are different and denies them basic rights.

About Nadina LaSpina

Nadina LaSpina is a prominent activist in the disability-rights movement and has been arrested countless times for civil disobedience. You can find her in the streets with Disabled In Action, ADAPT, the Disability Caucus, and other groups. After teaching Italian for many years, she created and taught courses in disability studies at The New School. She lives in New York City.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rachel

This book is so outstanding! Nadina LaSpina had polio as a toddler in Sicily. When she was about 13, her family moved to America to get her "cured." Of course there was no cure, but there were treatments that (probably) helped. And she finally could get around in a wheelchair (which wasn't an option......more

Goodreads review by Erica

Both the personal story of a woman who had polio as a child and the story, from the author's involvement, in the disability rights movement. One of many memoirs that piece together the evolution of civil rights for and societal attitudes towards people with disabilities. As a memoir this book left me......more

Goodreads review by Barbara

This is a five star plus story of love and determination. It should be required reading for every sociology class in this country. What an eye opener to the trials and tribulations of being “disabled”. The author was instrumental in every act that literally opened doors to an otherwise discriminated......more

Goodreads review by Kathy

I'm often drawn to books that describe the resiliency of the human spirit. Nadina LaSpina's life story is almost unbelievable and I know that neither my mind or my body could be challenged as hers was. Born in Sicily where she contracts polio and is treated with pity, coming to the US where her Dad......more