By Trishna Buch
When the book, Carissa’s Law, arrived at my house I didn’t start reading it right away. I had done a bit of research about the book and, due to my misconception, I thought it would read as a technical book. I knew the book dealt with Spina Bifida, so I assumed it would be filled with medical terms and be very difficult for me to read. So I put it in my room and then ignored it until that same evening. When I finally did pick the book up to read, I realized that my original assumptions about it were completely wrong. While the story did contain medical terminology related to Spina Bifida, these terms were easy to understand. And the rest of the book didn’t read as the documentary (for lack of a better word) type that I had expected, but as a story. I am so happy that I read the book, because I got so engrossed and I finished it within a few days. Carissa’s Law focuses on an 18-year-old, Carissa, who has Spina Bifida. According to the Spina Bifida Association, this “happens when a baby is in the womb and the spinal column does not close all the way.” According to the SPA, there are several types of spina bifida including: Occult Spinal Dysraphism and Spina Bifida Cystica. Throughout the story readers are invited into Carissa’s life as she deals with things any teenager has dealt with—college classes and a new relationship at the forefront—but what makes Carissa’s life different is that she also has to deal with the surgeries and other trials that come with having Spina Bifida. It is learnt through the story that doctors are giving expecting parents, with children who may have Spina Bifida, incorrect information regarding the child’s quality of life. This ignites a passion in Carissa and leads her to attempt to get a law passed which would make doctors do their research and provide updated and correct information to these parents, in order to prevent unnecessary termination of pregnancies. I had the opportunity to speak to the author, Misty Boyd. Boyd was born in Texas with the same condition as Carissa. While she majored in Culinary Arts at College Of The Mainland and Galveston College, she told me that she had always been good at English and Writing. “My teachers always told me that I should go into the writing field, but I never had the confidence.” It was only when she reached her 30s that she developed the confidence to start writing, which resulted in her first book—Carissa’s Law. Boyd classifies Carissa’s Law as a “fictionalized true story.” While the characters are fictional, they are based off real people. For example, Boyd told me that “Carissa is a personification of myself and the many other people I have met with Spina Bifida.” Furthermore, not only are the characters based off real people, but the events in the story are based off occurrences that are still happening today. “Current medical information is telling parents who are expecting children with Spina Bifida that these children will have a very low quality of life. They are telling them that these children will never walk, never talk and will have mental retardation,” Boyd told me. “This is simply not true. A good majority of us walk and very few of us have mental defects.” The law that Carissa attempted to have passed in the book was loosely based off a law that was passed in Kentucky. “I changed it slightly so it wasn’t an exact copy,” Boyd told me. She told me that she took help from her father, who is very interested in politics, to write the political parts of the story; but the majority of the book is written in her own unique voice. And Boyd told me that, if she had the opportunity to go speak to lawmakers in Austin about getting a similar law passed in Texas, she would “jump in the car.” Boyd told me that, when her friends read the story, they told her that “you are Carissa.” Boyd said that 50 percent of Carissa’s life and experiences are modeled after herself, and one of the biggest commonalities—apart from the fact that both Boyd and Carissa have Spina Bifida—is their connection to their faith and God. Throughout the book, Carissa turns to God many times to find strength and Boyd told me she does the same. “My faith is what carries me.” Boyd, who can be found on Facebook at Misty Boyd-Author, has a message to parents who have children with Spina Bifida: “You are walking into unknown territory, but it is beautiful. And if I had one piece of advice it would be to never let anyone set standards for your child. Let your child determine what he or she is capable of.” You can find the book, Carissa’s Law, at amazon. com and barnesandnoble.com. Furthermore, since a sequel is “never off the table”, keep a lookout on Boyd’s Facebook page for any information regarding this. When she is not writing, Boyd likes to spend time with her husband of ten years and also enjoys reading, dancing, going to church and eating delicious TexMex. Carissa’s Law is a well-written and well thought out book, which will have you hooked from the first word. Boyd did an excellent job of bringing the protagonist to life and making the readers experience Carissa’s story as it unfolded. If I was a book reviewer, I would give the story a glowing review, with five stars and a 10/10 rating. I highly advise you to visit the aforementioned websites and get yourself a copy as soon as possible. Source: http://spinabifidaassociation.org/whatis-sb/Picture Source: Readers’ Favorite
