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Emily: My True Story of Chronic Illness and Missing Out On Life
Emily's the sick one . . . all of the time.
Plagued with some sort of cold or fever or bizarre aches and pains for much of her life, Emily thought the dizziness and stomachaches at the start of her senior year were just another bout of "Emily flu." But when they didn't go away, she knew something was seriously wrong. Eventually diagnosed with the rare and incurable West Nile virus, Emily watched her senior year and the future she had planned for go up in smoke.
"I want a normal life for a teenager. I want to ache from a long day at work. I want to be so busy that I don't have time to post on my blog. I want to run the race of life instead of being pushed along it in a wheelchair. I want to be on the ride of my life, you know?"
Because Truth Is More Fascinating Than Fiction
Plagued with some sort of cold or fever or bizarre aches and pains for much of her life, Emily thought the dizziness and stomachaches at the start of her senior year were just another bout of "Emily flu." But when they didn't go away, she knew something was seriously wrong. Eventually diagnosed with the rare and incurable West Nile virus, Emily watched her senior year and the future she had planned for go up in smoke.
"I want a normal life for a teenager. I want to ache from a long day at work. I want to be so busy that I don't have time to post on my blog. I want to run the race of life instead of being pushed along it in a wheelchair. I want to be on the ride of my life, you know?"
Because Truth Is More Fascinating Than Fiction
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
163 pages, Paperback
First published August 3, 2009
5 people are currently reading
279 people want to read
About the author
Emily Smucker
3 books68 followersHello there! I’m Emily Smucker: Full-time student, part-time writer, and every-once-in-a-while adventurer. I blog at emilysmucker.com about traveling, books, culture, and my life as a Mennonite girl in college. Basically, whatever kindles my interest at the moment.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 23, 2024
When she was seventeen, Smucker found herself sick. For Smucker, whose immune system wasn't the strongest at the best of times, this wasn't unusual...but then she didn't get better, and didn't get better, and didn't get better. What her family thought was "Emily flu" turned out to be the West Nile Virus, a mosquito-borne illness with no cure other than rest and time. Months and months of time.
This was contracted as part of a series of what I can only call "teen issue memoirs", and I picked it up after reading Smucker's second book. Some of the series covers relatively unusual subjects as far as teen issue books go (chronic/long-term illness, trichotillomania, murdered parent), and I can see why Smucker's submission (some of which is adapted from her blog) was chosen: even as a teenager she wrote with a certain degree of whimsy and an awareness that readers did not want a dry "here is what happened today", day in and day out.
I am a bit sorry not to see more about West Nile Virus: I know so little (read: nothing) about it, and if you had asked me last week I would not have guessed that it is (thank you, CDC website) "the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States". Most of the symptoms seem to be fairly vague—fever, malaise—but can lay somebody out for quite some time. A couple of things were dropped (what happened with the white blood cells?), but it looks like Smucker has done some low-key revisions for a new version, so maybe that will follow up on those threads.
All told, a quick read that mostly satisfied my curiosity...but if you read this, I'd recommend going for the updated version and also maybe looking up West Nile Virus early on in your read.
This was contracted as part of a series of what I can only call "teen issue memoirs", and I picked it up after reading Smucker's second book. Some of the series covers relatively unusual subjects as far as teen issue books go (chronic/long-term illness, trichotillomania, murdered parent), and I can see why Smucker's submission (some of which is adapted from her blog) was chosen: even as a teenager she wrote with a certain degree of whimsy and an awareness that readers did not want a dry "here is what happened today", day in and day out.
I am a bit sorry not to see more about West Nile Virus: I know so little (read: nothing) about it, and if you had asked me last week I would not have guessed that it is (thank you, CDC website) "the leading cause of mosquito-borne disease in the continental United States". Most of the symptoms seem to be fairly vague—fever, malaise—but can lay somebody out for quite some time. A couple of things were dropped (what happened with the white blood cells?), but it looks like Smucker has done some low-key revisions for a new version, so maybe that will follow up on those threads.
All told, a quick read that mostly satisfied my curiosity...but if you read this, I'd recommend going for the updated version and also maybe looking up West Nile Virus early on in your read.
May 7, 2012
Concept/Ideas: 4/5
I liked the idea that this book was about Emily, a girl who was infected with West Nile virus. I thought it would be an interesting read, reading on about how she struggles to come to terms with it and learns to live and get over the stress of not being able to do what she wants at first with the illness. Definitely sounds like an informative, hard read.
Writing Style: 2.5/5
Okay so.... I think Emily's a great writer, and has a lot of potential. She seems very imaginative and creative. But the diary entries got a little slow and boring. The whole book to me was very bland. I liked the concept, and I know this is just a day to day count of her life with this illness, but I still found it to be boring. Yes, it taught you just how hard it was to live with West Nile, and it showed you the struggles she had to deal with, but overall she wrote about things that did not really have a point. Sure it all intertwined.. and you cant expect much when it was her true feelings, but it was boring, and I struggled through the last bit.
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Overall, not the most exciting book, although I would read it to be informed, and see the real struggles people with West Nile have to deal with. I think Emily Smucker is a strong, courageous and imaginative women who has a lot of potential as an author, and everything she goes for in life.
Overall? I would still reccommend it.
I liked the idea that this book was about Emily, a girl who was infected with West Nile virus. I thought it would be an interesting read, reading on about how she struggles to come to terms with it and learns to live and get over the stress of not being able to do what she wants at first with the illness. Definitely sounds like an informative, hard read.
Writing Style: 2.5/5
Okay so.... I think Emily's a great writer, and has a lot of potential. She seems very imaginative and creative. But the diary entries got a little slow and boring. The whole book to me was very bland. I liked the concept, and I know this is just a day to day count of her life with this illness, but I still found it to be boring. Yes, it taught you just how hard it was to live with West Nile, and it showed you the struggles she had to deal with, but overall she wrote about things that did not really have a point. Sure it all intertwined.. and you cant expect much when it was her true feelings, but it was boring, and I struggled through the last bit.
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Overall, not the most exciting book, although I would read it to be informed, and see the real struggles people with West Nile have to deal with. I think Emily Smucker is a strong, courageous and imaginative women who has a lot of potential as an author, and everything she goes for in life.
Overall? I would still reccommend it.
June 17, 2018
Intriguing. The ending was a bit short, I would've liked to have known more about her life in Redmount and what made her move to the other place.
November 6, 2015
In the end, I found this to be an amazing book though I was a little disappointed in the ending. I understand that this book was written as a journal and published in that form so for the ending to not be very..wrapped up..it made since. However, it seemed like one of those books that was very good up until the end because nothing really happened. I suppose the Author's Epilogue did make up for that in a way though. Other than that, I found this book to be very well written and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to read about a struggling girl in high school. I would however like to warn you that if you are offended by material having to do with religion you should definitely stay away from this book. With that said, this would be a wonderful book for those of you interested in medical issues.
December 14, 2011
This book is very hard for me to rate or review.
It is a true story based off of the blog posts of Emily Smucker.
When Emily is going into her senior year of HS she becomes sick. A sickness that she just can't seem to shake. At one point she becomes so weak that she starts to use a cane.
The cane doesn't last but she still becomes exhausted easily and no matter how many tests she gets done the drs can't seem to figure out what is wrong with her.
Finally, about year after she first became sick, she finds out she is allergic to some things, one of which is a major thing.
The thing that I was disappointed about in this book is that there was no description of 'how' Emily was feeling sick. What were her sympthoms?
This was a very quick and easy read.
It is a true story based off of the blog posts of Emily Smucker.
When Emily is going into her senior year of HS she becomes sick. A sickness that she just can't seem to shake. At one point she becomes so weak that she starts to use a cane.
The cane doesn't last but she still becomes exhausted easily and no matter how many tests she gets done the drs can't seem to figure out what is wrong with her.
Finally, about year after she first became sick, she finds out she is allergic to some things, one of which is a major thing.
The thing that I was disappointed about in this book is that there was no description of 'how' Emily was feeling sick. What were her sympthoms?
This was a very quick and easy read.
April 1, 2012
3 1/2 Stars
This is a true story of Emily Smucker. In a series of blog posts Emily describes her life after falling ill, and not being able to go on the trips and do the things she wants to do. She finds shes allergic to a lot of things. But wishing she was allergic to Oregon (her home state) barely being able to walk at time, and with the use of a cane she gets around. Through all the doctors tests, and time recovering from her illness, Emily fights and learns to live with it all, and overcomes her illness.
This is a true story of Emily Smucker. In a series of blog posts Emily describes her life after falling ill, and not being able to go on the trips and do the things she wants to do. She finds shes allergic to a lot of things. But wishing she was allergic to Oregon (her home state) barely being able to walk at time, and with the use of a cane she gets around. Through all the doctors tests, and time recovering from her illness, Emily fights and learns to live with it all, and overcomes her illness.
November 4, 2015
Spot on! my husband and my daughter are both disabled and truth pours out of the pages of this book. Her emotional struggles are some of what goes through the mind of anyone struggling with a chronic illness. When you are first diagnosed, there is a certain learning curve, and stages of anger, frustation and grief for the able body that has been lost before finally accepting the illness. Thank you Emily for sharing your story so that others chronically ill and their spouses and family members dont feel like theyre the only ones. Many times thanks!
July 7, 2013
17 year-old Emily gets sick a lot, but this year she seems sicker and it’s lasting longer than usual. When the doctor says she has West Nile, an incurable virus, she sees her whole senior year go up in smoke.
I love that a teenager has written her story of battling a chronic disease. You really get to know her throughout the book and feel her happiness on her better days and her frustration during the weeks where nothing improves.
I love that a teenager has written her story of battling a chronic disease. You really get to know her throughout the book and feel her happiness on her better days and her frustration during the weeks where nothing improves.
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November 23, 2009I skimmed this one more than read it. It's her blog in print form about living with West Nile virus. Interesting but definitely too teen for me - but for those who loves blogs or narratives or the inner workings of a teen girl (who is sick but doesn't delve as much into it as I had personally hoped), this will be a good fit. Same publisher as the Chicken Soup books, if that gives some context.
July 26, 2011
Its adout a girl that gets sick for a whole year and she talks adout what it is like to go throw it all and how she wants be alleric to her home state so that she can move and go on an trip and adout how her family and freinds try to help her and she quastions God some times. I loved it!!
July 28, 2011
this book makes u thankful for your freedom and good health. very heartwarming and sad
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August 21, 2012meh
August 30, 2013
Quick read... I follow her mom's blog so I knew some of the story. Interesting to read it from Emily's viewpoint.
August 11, 2014
I really liked how he was able to document her illness through the good and bad.
July 24, 2017
I love the way Emily writes: easy to read and so honest!
September 10, 2016
Delightful writing style!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews