When a beautiful teen with polio enters their lives, a girl and her older brother find themselves drawn into a web of lies in this compelling novel
by a best-selling author. (Age 10 and up)
Eleven-year-old Georgie loves science-fiction movies, but she wonât be going to the theater anytime soon. Itâs a hot Indiana summer in 1952, and public places from pools to camps are closing to slow the spread of polio. Despite all the headlines, Georgie never thought sheâd come as close to the fearful disease as she does when she spies a silver glint in her neighborâs yard. There she discovers a monstrous, hissing machine, and inside is Phyllis, a girl encased in an iron lung. "I have eighty-seven cubic centimeters of air, but you have the world," Phyllis tells her. Phyllisâs ability to breathe may be limited, but her strength to manipulate is boundless. As Georgie struggles to comprehend this once-gorgeous teenagerâs life in a "coffin with legs," Phyllis slowly weaves a web of lies that snare all those around her, including Georgieâs quickly smitten brother. Can Georgie untangle the truth before Phyllisâs deception achieves its inevitable end?
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