{"product_id":"dont-kill-the-birthday-girl-isbn-9780307588128","title":"Don't Kill the Birthday Girl","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA beautifully written and darkly funny journey through the world of the allergic.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eLike twelve million other Americans, Sandra Beasley suffers from food allergies. Her allergies—severe and lifelong—include dairy, egg, soy, beef, shrimp, pine nuts, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, swordfish, and mustard. Add to that mold, dust, grass and tree pollen, cigarette smoke, dogs, rabbits, horses, and wool, and it’s no wonder Sandra felt she had to live her life as “Allergy Girl.” When butter is deadly and eggs can make your throat swell shut, cupcakes and other treats of childhood are out of the question—and so Sandra’s mother used to warn guests against a toxic, frosting-tinged kiss with “Don’t kill the birthday girl!”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIt may seem that such a person is “not really designed to survive,” as one blunt nutritionist declared while visiting Sandra’s fourth-grade class. But Sandra has not only survived, she’s thrived—now an essayist, editor, and award-winning poet, she has learned to navigate a world in which danger can lurk in an unassuming corn chip. \u003ci\u003eDon’t Kill the Birthday Girl\u003c\/i\u003e is her story. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWith candor, wit, and a journalist’s curiosity, Sandra draws on her own experiences while covering the scientific, cultural, and sociological terrain of allergies. She explains exactly what an allergy is, describes surviving a family reunion in heart-of-Texas beef country with her vegetarian sister, delves into how being allergic has affected her romantic relationships, exposes the dark side of Benadryl, explains how parents can work with schools to protect their allergic children, and details how people with allergies should advocate for themselves in a restaurant.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA compelling mix of memoir, cultural history, and science, \u003ci\u003eDon’t Kill the Birthday Girl\u003c\/i\u003e is mandatory reading for the millions of families navigating the world of allergies—and a not-to-be-missed literary treat for the rest of us.\u003c\/p\u003e\"A sufferer's witty, sobering account of living with life-threatening food allergies.\" \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—People\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Charming…Beasley is a warm and lively guide to the quirky world of allergies… a vital call to arms for allergy awareness.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn “honest and amusing medical memoir that’s also a patient-written primer on food allergies. This birthday girl doesn’t kvetch, though she has every right to. She doesn’t consider herself a victim, just someone who has to experience the world differently from the rest of us.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e“\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eBeasley shares surprisingly delightful stories about her own fraught relationship with food.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Prevention\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An unself-pitying meditation on what it’s like to live without goodies most of us consider essential. What’s more, she somehow manages to make the whole thing hilarious.” \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Self\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This information- and anecdote-filled book will be a welcome antidote to the worries and fears endured by families with food allergies.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Intelligent and witty…enthralling…thoughtful and well-written.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Award winner Beasley (e.g., Barnard Women Poets) offers a cultural study of living the “allergic life.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Fascinating…humane and informative.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[A] fun read...Beasley is certainly inspiring to anyone who's suffered from allergies or other medical conditions that make you feel like you're on the outside looking in. But her memories of a supportive family who stuck with her through hard times, friends and lovers who accommodated her needs, and her narrative of independence and self-sufficiency will strike a chord with any reader—even those whose gustatory options are endless.\" \u003cb\u003e—SeriousEats.com\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"For readers who suffer from allergies, or care for someone who does, for parents who wonder why they can no longer send their child to school with the American staple, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or for anyone curious about how Sandra Beasley handles a lifelong challenge successfully, this book is for you. Winning, wise and humorous, you'll think twice when someone says, ‘Pass the peanuts.’” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eAdriana Trigiani, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eDon't Sing at the Table\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Sandra Beasley’s memoir—so bright and lucid and compelling, so intelligent and affecting—is even more than a gripping tale of living with numerous, potentially deadly allergies.  Brilliantly combining her personal narrative with medical research and cultural analyses, Beasley’s memoir is ultimately an exploration of how we negotiate our vulnerable, permeable selves in a world that is filled equally with joy and harm.”  \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eRichard McCann, author of \u003ci\u003eMother of Sorrows\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eDon’t Kill the Birthday Girl\u003c\/i\u003e is much more than a compelling examination of food allergies—it’s a meditation on human fragility. Sandra Beasley has made visible the potential hazards of what so many of us take for granted and moves away from the body’s rejection of allergens into the story of what it means to live and love.  In sparkling prose, Beasley has written a memoir that becomes a remarkable mélange—undeniably informative, and a real pleasure—both hip and wickedly smart.\" \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eAlex Lemon, author of \u003ci\u003eHappy: A Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFancy Beasts\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Sandra Beasley's book is both hilarious and moving. It's about what it's like to live in fear of hidden parmesan, but it's also about teenage rebellion, romance and George Washington Carver. Recommended for everyone, no matter what their immune system is like.” \u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003eA.J. Jacobs, author of \u003ci\u003eMy Life as an Experiment\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Year of Living Biblically\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eDon't Kill The Birthday Girl\u003c\/i\u003e is a compelling and enlightening exploration of what life is like for someone with life threatening allergies.  Thoughtful and witty but most important, educational, this book is a must read for anyone who has or knows someone with severe allergies—which means everyone.” \u003cb\u003e—Jill McCorkle, author of \u003ci\u003eGoing Away Shoes \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eCarolina Moon\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eSANDRA BEASLEY is the author of the poetry collections \u003ci\u003eI Was the Jukebox\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the 2009 Barnard Women Poets Prize, and \u003ci\u003eTheories of Falling\u003c\/i\u003e, which won the 2007 New Issues Poetry Prize. Her honors include a DCCAH Individual Artist Fellowship, the Friends of Literature Prize from the Poetry Foundation, and the Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award from Poets \u0026amp; Writers, Inc. She lives in Washington, D.C., where her prose has been featured in the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Crown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304348537061,"sku":"NP9780307588128","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780307588128.jpg?v=1767725520","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/dont-kill-the-birthday-girl-isbn-9780307588128","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}