BLOG: Summary of January HLAA-TC Book Club

Next Book and Book Club:

February book: Memoir “Being Seen: One DeafBlind woman’s fight to end ableism” By Elsa Sjunneson. BARD #: DB 105634. Tuesday, February 24, 2026 5pm Western/ 7pm Central/ 8pm Eastern Time. On Zoom with Captions. Free and open to all.

Summary of January Book Club:

Author Will Leitch is not disabled himself and has written several other books and works primarily as a sports writer. As a member read to us in the acknowledgements of the book, this explains the author’s connection to SMA: “Like most people, I had never heard of spinal muscular atrophy until it touched my life. My son William was two years old when his close friend Miller was diagnosed with the neuromuscular disorder. He and my son are now nine years old, and still best pals: Their Madden battles get a little more intense every year. Being close to Miller, along with his parents, Lindsay David (whose help was consistently invaluable, and without whom none of this would have happened) and Eason David, introduced me to the world of sMA and, more to the point, all the families and individuals who live, and thrive, with it every day. Their warmth and good cheer sparked the initial notion to write this book, and their guidance lit my path through-out. I hope I’ve honored their strength. Thank you. I also must thank all the people who allowed me to listen to them about their experiences with SMA and disability. I’ll never know as much as you, but I know so much more because of you.”- From the Acknowledgements from “How Lucky.”
The plot takes some inspiration from “Rear Window” a 1954 film by Alfred Hitchcock starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. (The film is based on a 1942 short story “It Had To Be Murder” by Cornell Woolrich.) I personally love the movie “Rear Window”, Rear Window is considered by many filmgoers, critics, and scholars to be one of Hitchcock’s best films, as well as one of the greatest films ever made. (You can rent it for $3.99 each on: Google Play; Apple TV; Fandango at Home; Amazon Prime Video).
Daniel’s (the novel’s protagonist) condition, Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) can be read about on The Cleveland Clinic website
We talked about different conditions similar like Muscular Dystrophy. Here’s a Healthline article I found that compares the two conditions.
I (Laura, HLAA-TC Book Club organizer) read a memoir (that I recommend) several years ago by this great and funny guy who also has SMA. His name is Shane Burcaw and the memoir is “Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse.” (He is now married to the girlfriend he mentions in the book, Hannah, and she is from the Twin Cities and they live here and have a popular YouTube channel). I found this amazing blog article and video interview on and with Shane and if you have any questions about how the character in the book was with his disability, check this out. (Note: there are different types of the disease so not everyone with it will look, sound or function alike, hence the differences between Shane and our character from the book, Daniel).