In my chair or in yours?

At 19, a mysterious illness put Juliana Carvalho in a wheelchair. Her autobiographical account, "In my chair or yours?" draws humour and hopes from difficult situations-without hiding the moments of despair and desire to give up. Her story exposes the mixture of tragedy and comedy that characterize our lives. Juliana weaves vignettes of her life before and after her spinal cord injury, contrasting two realities. She recalls childhood pranks and impressions and reflects on a naive relationship with her family. She writes candidly about teenage rebelliousness, manifested as drinking and partying, and about her own discovery of love and sex. She intensely reveals her inner thoughts about re-adapting to life as a sudden-adult, living with the new limits and overcoming obstacles. She brings us to her revelation that a chair does not modify a fundamental truth: being human is beyond our bodies.With the publication of her inspiring story, Juliana made news across her native Brazil. Her story was quickly picked up by national newspapers and magazines (Contigo, Veja São Paulo, Folha de São Paulo, Zero Hora, Correio Brasiliense, and others). Garnering a strong public response, her book sold more than 30,000 copies and has been distributed to public schools throughout the country by the Ministry of Education. Major television networks interviewed Juliana, and before long she had become a spokeswoman for the inclusion movement.Books of its ilk are uncommon. Now it is available in the English-speaking market. Her story is hopeful and uplifting to those with similar circumstances, poignant and inspirational to all.