Today, we are featuring a guest post from Rebekah Taussig, author of Sitting Pretty, coming out on August 25, 2020.
Sitting Pretty is a memoir-in-essays from Rebekah Taussig, disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty, reflecting on identity, accessibility, and representation and processing a lifetime of memories to paint a more beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most.
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Dear Librarians,
My name is Rebekah Taussig, and I am a fan of you! When I was growing up in the 90s, my favorite thing was to play library with my sister. We had a treehouse in our backyard, and I figured out my own weird way to climb up the ladder using my paralyzed legs and my extra-strong arms to tumble into our oasis of books. Our goal was to write hundreds and hundreds of stories—to line the inside of our treehouse with shelves of them—and hand out library cards so our friends and neighbors could partake in all the reading we had to offer. (Nevermind that our collection of books were actually little stacks of stapled paper with crayon drawings and nonsense stories!) But the act of storytelling and inviting everyone to partake in that storytelling remains a driving force for me.
Thirty years later, I’ve finally written an actual book! Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body was born from my tenderest memories and most pressing questions attached to navigating life from a wheelchair. It’s a memoir told in essay form, each chapter covering a different topic, from romance to work, ableism to feminism, representation to accessibility. One of the central themes of the book casts a spotlight on access—what it looks like, who has it, who doesn’t, and how to create more of it for more folks.
As my book became more and more real, I talked with my publishers about ways to make it more accessible to readers. Books can be expensive, and there are so many reasons—especially right now—that people might not have the funds to purchase it. This is the space libraries occupy—a point of access, an inclusive invitation to anyone who wants access to the world of language. My dream is that Sitting Pretty could occupy the shelves of libraries far and wide, bridging that gap and creating more access for more readers. It’s similar to my childhood dream of sharing my homemade treehouse books with neighbors and friends, only this version invites way more folks to the reading party.
Thank you so much for considering my book as a new addition to your shelves. It would be an honor to be included. And either way, thank you for all you do to make reading and stories more accessible to more people—it’s invaluable, transformative work.
All my best,
Rebekah G. Taussig
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Listen to an interview with Rebekah on our podcast here:
Thank you to Rebekah for this awesome letter to librarians and for coming on the podcast!
There's still time to get your LibraryReads vote in by July 1st.
Download an egalley from Edelweiss+
Download and egalley from NetGalley
-Lainey