Rebekah Taussig, who lost the use of her legs as a toddler, didn’t grow up seeing her everyday reality or identity reflected in TV shows, ads, books, or movies. What she did see was disability imagined as a frightening deformity, held up as inspiration for those in less hindered bodies, or even as an indicator of innocence or magical power – and none of that was familiar to her any more than it would be to anyone else. 

This lack of reality-based depictions contributed to Taussig’s early struggles with self-perception and her relationship to the spaces and people around her. The Big Read 2025 celebrates the challenges – and the joys – of physical, human existence through programming and a city-wide read of Taussig’s memoir Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary, Resilient, Disabled Body. The book is made up of eight essays that include stories of both awkward and beautiful interactions with strangers and friends, her experience mothering an infant from a wheelchair, and the degree to which her disability is part of her identity. She also writes about how race, class, and gender are the main points of entry into discussions about equity, yet disability is excluded. 

Taussig, an educator and disability advocate, says that’s shortsighted; everyone benefits from discussions about accessibility. 

The library’s Kaite Stover agrees. “It’s not easy to find just the right book for a Big Read, but Sitting Pretty is the right book at the right time, especially for Kansas City,” says Stover, the director of readers’ services. 

The library selected it from a list of 29 titles under the theme Where We Live. Taussig’s is alongside classics like Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and contemporary works like There There by Tommy Orange. 

Stover describes Sitting Pretty as warm and accessible, a text that will help readers see their community from a new point of view. And, she adds, “That new viewpoint will lead to talking about reading, talking about expectations, and talking about change.” 

Taussig says, “I've met with groups around the country engaging with my book, but it feels quite different knowing that it's my own community this time around. I'm honored and honestly, quite emotional, to share my stories with Kansas City.” 

She says she’s hopeful that during the eight weeks of the Big Read, others will share their stories, continuing “the long-haul work of building meaningful inclusion into all corners of our city.” 

The public can participate in the Big Read through attending various events like talks, writing workshops, film screenings, book discussion groups, and other activities. 

For more information, please visit kclibrary.org/BigRead.