While A Shot at Normal is a work of fiction, it was inspired by reality. In reality, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the measles to be eliminated in the United States in 2000. At the writing of this book, that eliminated status is threatened due to more and more diagnosed cases of measles every year.
The anti-vax movement is largely responsible for this resurgence, gaining momentum from a now debunked study in 1998 that linked the MMR vaccine to autism. Sadly, this movement, by continuing to spread misinformation about the safety of vaccines, puts the most vulnerable populations—babies, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems—at the highest risk.
While 95 percent of kindergartners in the US are up-to-date on their vaccinations, an article published by The Washington Post noted that the percentage of unvaccinated children in the United States “has quadrupled since 2001” (“Percentage of Young U.S. Kids Who Don’t Get Vaccinated Has Quadrupled since 2001,” Lena H. Sun, October 11, 2018).
I came to Juniper’s story when I began to envision what the teen years of children whose parents chose not to vaccinate them as babies might look like. Once they were old enough to understand, would they agree with their parents’ choices or question them? What if those choices kept them from something they really wanted, like attending public school or participating in extracurricular activities? At what point does a person have the right to make their own medical choices? Is it eighteen years old? Or should someone younger, like Juniper, have that right? And if so, what might the journey to earning that right look like? What could be gained? What could be lost? These are just a few of the questions I wanted to try to answer in A Shot at Normal.
Certainly, as we learn and grow, it’s important to question things. I hope Juniper’s story will inspire readers to examine some of the tough questions in their own lives.
May they be lucky enough to find the answers.