Rachel Adams (Columbia University) Raising Henry: A Memoir of Motherhood, Disability, and Discovery (Yale University Press) Wednesday October 16 at 6:30pm Rachel Adams's life had always gone according to plan. She had an adoring husband, a beautiful two-year-old son, a sunny Manhattan apartment, and a position as a tenured professor at Columbia University. Everything changed with the birth of her second child, Henry. Just minutes after he was born, doctors told her that Henry had Down syndrome, and she knew that her life would never be the same. In this honest, self-critical, and surprisingly funny book, Adams chronicles the first three years of Henry's life and her own transformative experience of unexpectedly becoming the mother of a disabled child. A highly personal story of one family's encounter with disability, Raising Henry is also an insightful exploration of today's knotty terrain of social prejudice, disability policy, genetics, prenatal testing, medical training, and inclusive education. Adams untangles the contradictions of living in a society that is more enlightened and supportive of people with disabilities than ever before, yet is racing to perfect prenatal tests to prevent children like Henry from being born. Her book is gripping, beautifully written, and nearly impossible to put down. Once read, her family's story is impossible to forget. Salon Talks are an opportunity for local American Studies scholars to share their published work with an intimate audience. They tend to be small, lively, and informative; light refreshments are served. This semester all Salon Talks will be held at 6:30pm in the Faculty and Staff Lounge, on the 8th floor of the West Building, Hunter College (Lexington Avenue and 68th Street). Since space is limited, rsvp. For directions, more information, or to rsvp, contact Sarah Chinn at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Sarah E. Chinn English Department Hunter College, CUNY 695 Park Avenue New York, NY 10065 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> (212)772-5178