Don't Kill The Birthday Girl

Like 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!”

It 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. Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl is her story.

With 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.

A compelling mix of memoir, cultural history, and science, Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl 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.

Sandra Beasley is the author of Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life, a memoir and cultural history of food allergies. Her previous books are both collections of poetry: I Was the Jukebox, which won the 2009 Barnard Women Poetry Prize, selected by Joy Harjo, and Theories of Falling, which won the New Issues Poetry Prize judged by Marie Howe. Her work has appeared in Poetry, Slate, The Believer, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and The Best American Poetry 2010.

Beasley lives in Washington, D.C., where her nonfiction has been featured in the Washington Post Magazine. For more information, please visit www.SandraBeasley.com, follow her on Twitter @SandraBeasley, or check out her Author page on Facebook.

Review
I'm not sure what I was expecting when I picked up Don't Kill The Birthday Girl but what I got was a great read and a learning experience. The author uses her personal experiences and solid science to teach the reader about food allergies. Sandra Beasley's writing style will grab your attention from the first page and make you want to know more about this subject. Everyday events, such as a walking into a restaurant, can be a big deal if you have food allergies. Ms. Beasley also examines the ingredients in packaged foods right down to the additives. This is something that affects all of us.

Don't Kill The Birthday Girl is not a "poor pitiful me" type of story, it is upbeat and down to earth. This is a tell it like it is look at food allergies from a person who has lived with them her entire life, sometimes it's "just the facts" and sometimes it's quite amusing.

By the way, did you see the question and answer piece in this Sunday's Parade magazine? This week's author was Sandra Beasley.

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Crown (July 12, 2011)
Purchase Don't Kill The Birthday Girl HERE.

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I receive a advance copy of Don't Kill The Birthday Girl from the publisher. I was not compensated for my review, all opinions are my own.