Heresies of Nature — Margaret Blair Young

The Morgans seem like a typical Utah family. The teenagers act like teenagers and the parents respond like normal parents. Except Mom has multiple sclerosis. The family copes with this situation more or less. They treat Mom like the fun-loving person she always was before she had to be confined to a wheelchair and rely on a Morse code-like system of elementary communication. Inspired by a true story, told as a slice-of-life account of the ups and downs, twists and turns that fill every family's life, Heresies of Nature is alternately subtle and powerful. Only gradually do readers realize how much of this shattering account relates to the unimaginable emotional challenges involved in facing a progressively debilitating, ultimately fatal handicap.