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Rebecca Sue: A Sister’s Reflections on Disability, Faith, and Love, By Kathleen Norris

Rebecca Sue

A Sister’s Reflections on Disability, Faith, and Love

by Kathleen Norris

Rebecca Sue
Hardback
$25.99
  • Length: 240 pages
  • Dimensions: 5.5 × 8.5 in
  • Published: September 16, 2025
  • Imprint: IVP Formatio
  • ISBN: 9781514011409
Other Formats:

Christian Book Award® Finalist—Biography and Memoir

"You should write a book about me, so I can be famous like you."

Five-time New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Norris fulfills this wish expressed by her sister Rebecca "Becky" Sue with this heartfelt and honest memoir of sisterhood, disability, and resilience.

Known for her insightful reflections on faith and life, Norris ventures into new territory in Rebecca Sue, sharing an intimate portrait of her younger sister. Becky's life was shaped by lifelong mental and physical disabilities. Though Becky was aware of her limitations and the frustrations they brought, she refused to be defined by them. This story, told from a sister's perspective, paints a picture of Becky's complex life, from her hopes, sense of humor, frustrations, and hardships to her journey from bitterness and anger to a life characterized by gratitude.

Norris' love for her sister is palpable as she presents a full and honest portraitof a woman who, like all of us, longed for love, family, and a place to belong. Weaving her memories with Becky's own words drawn from her letters and journals, Norris examines parts of her own story, the strength of familial bonds, the complexity of caregiving, and the myriad ways God works in our lives.

In Rebecca Sue, you will discover:

  • stories that resonate with those who have loved ones with disabilities, offering the comfort of shared experience.
  • a candid and vulnerable portrayal as Norris balances the heaviness and hardships brought on by Becky’s diagnosis of perinatal hypoxia with the joy and hope in her life.
  • a testament to how unwavering love, perseverance, and commitment can guide a family through life's most arduous journeys.

This book is a heartfelt and realistic exploration of relationships, resilience, and faith, perfect for anyone drawn to stories of human connection or those who belong to or support the disability community. Rebecca Sue weaves a powerful story of perseverance, love, and the unexpected ways people find strength during life's toughest moments. Discover Becky's unforgettable story—one that celebrates sisterhood and God's sustaining presence.

REVIEWS

"Rebecca Sue is a profoundly moving tribute to the resilience of family and the beauty of unguarded love. Kathleen Norris takes us into the heart of her sister Rebecca's world with sensitivity, courage, and insight, offering a deeply human story that resonates with both struggle and grace. This book is a remarkable testament to the sacred bonds that sustain us through life's most profound challenges."John Swinton, professor in practical theology and pastoral care at the School of Divinity, History, and Philosophy at King's College at the University of Aberdeen
"Kathleen Norris has always written with embodied, honest, human faith. In Rebecca Sue, Norris brings her insight into the human condition to her relationship with her disabled younger sister. The result is an invitation for all readers to discover their own humanity and to glimpse the hidden hand of God in all things."Amy Julia Becker, author of To Be Made Well and A Good and Perfect Gift
"Kathleen Norris doesn't shy away from the unresolved histories and social norms that shaped her life with a disabled sibling or from the mix of ordinary difficulties, earned insight, and unexpected grace that arise from conditions of human needfulness. Readers will find some of their own stories echoed here, as Norris plainly and elegantly recounts, holds open, and reconsiders her own."Sara Hendren, author of What Can a Body Do? and associate professor of art, design, and architecture at Northeastern University
"Kathleen Norris turns the story of her sister Becky into one of the most memorable eulogies you'll ever hear—loving, honest, sacred. With vulnerability, humor, and the depth of spiritual insight we've come to expect from Norris, this account of her sister's life made me want to read her books all over again."Steven Purcell, executive director of Laity Lodge and author of Even Among These Rocks
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Read an Excerpt

CONTENTS

Note to the Reader
Becky's Questions

Part 1: "Will I Always Be Slow?"
The Rough-and-Tumble of Family Life
A Good Balance
To Hawaii, 1959
Defensive Wounds
"You Can't Hit Me, I'm Retarded!"
"Monster Mash"
The Beach Boys
Virginia Beach: A Mellaril Haze
"It's All Happening in Love With Me"

Part 2: "How Do You Know When You're in Love?"
"I Am in Deep Love"
Tora, Tora, Tora
"I Know How You Feel About It"
"I Try to Be Myself and Not Anybody Else"
"I Am a Slow Learn"
Assessment
"I Am Trying to Play It Cool"
"They Try to Get Me Drunk"
The Mary of Egypt Connection
"I Am Having Problems Seeing Eye to Eye With Men"
"It Seems like I Don't Like the Men Who Like Me"

Part 3: "What Can I Do to Be Good Enough to Develop Skills?"
"A Big Poodle in the Dog House"
"I Try to Change for a New Me"
The Finder of Lost Things
I Want to Change but Am Afraid of Change"
"I Feel Lost Again"
Not Stoicism, but Stability
"All My Dreams Get Sunk"

Part 4: "What Does 'Being Dependent' Mean?"
"I Know God Has a Plan for Me"
"If I Stay with the Family I'll Be a Failure"
Mrs. R.
A Haunting
"Becky Says You're Getting a Divorce"
"Please Don't Ask Me about My Group Home"
"I Have a Hard Time Loving Myself"
"I Can Only Change Me"
"I Passed the Drunk Test!"

Part 5: "What Will Happen to Me If You, Dad, and Mom Get Sick?"
"I Feel Hurt Because You Wrote a Book and I Didn't"
"You Should Write a Book about Me"
The Writer in the Family
Ho'omalimali
"I Was Praying for That"
"I Don't Want Mom or Dad to Die"
"I'm Acting like a Child, and I Don't Know Why"
Misfits
"I Guess This is What It Means to Be Bipolar"
"I'll Be Fine. I Have a Positive Attitude"
"I Think You're Right"

Part 6: "It's Important to Be the Right Kind of Person"
"A Hugging Church"
"I Know Now People Live and Die"
"I Need to Spread My Wings"
"She Appears Older than Her Stated Age"
"No One Loves You; You Should Just Die"
Vows
"A Swan, and Not the Ugly Duckling"
Phone Hugs
"Manicky"
"I Feel OK about Her Going"
"I Tell Them All About It"
Holy Week

Part 7: "Here We Go Again"
"She's a Mother Hen and I'm Fed Up with Her"
"I Wish I Could Be Like Him"
What I Owe to Joseph Gordon-Levitt
"A Freak in This World"
"I Like It Here"
"Here We Go Again"
"The Divine Presence Is Everywhere"
Daisy
The Color Artist
"Thank You for Telling Me"

Part 8: "I Bet I Can Have Dessert Now"
"I'm Afraid That I'll Die Alone"
"I Bet I Can Have Dessert Now"
"Does She Have Faith?"
Rebecca Sue Norris: Medications as of April 2013
"We Learn a Lot About Love
"I Have the Cutest Doctor, and He Surfs!"
Communion
"I Hate My Symptoms"
To God's Kingdom
"She Was Still Able to Be Herself"
Tulips
"I Am the Butterfly, Spread the Wings"
"Tabitha, Get Up"
The Perfect Thing to Say
Like a Child at Home
"It Was like She Took All the Light With Her"
Becky's Birds
The Gospel According to Rebecca
"And I Will Raise Them Up"
Iron Man 3

Acknowledgments

More

BONUS MATERIAL

Read an interview with Kathleen Norris on writing Rebecca Sue, "The Heart Behind Rebecca Sue".

Download the Press Kit

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ABOUT Kathleen Norris

Kathleen Norris

Kathleen Norris is the award-winning poet, writer, and author of the New York Times bestselling books The Cloister Walk, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life, Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, The Virgin of Bennington, and several volumes of poetry. Exploring the spiritual life, her work is at once intimate and historical, rich in poetry and meditations, brimming with exasperation and reverence, deeply grounded in both nature and spirit, sometimes funny, and often provocative.

Widowed in 2003, Kathleen Norris now divides her time between South Dakota and Honolulu, Hawaii, where she is a member of an Episcopal church. She travels to the mainland regularly to speak to students, medical professionals, social workers, and chaplains at colleges and universities, as well as churches and teaching hospitals. For many years she was the poetry editor of Spirituality & Health magazine. She serves as an editorial advisor for the monthly Give Us This Day from Liturgical Press, and writes for a weekly e-newsletter, Soul Telegram: Movies & Meaning with her friend Irish storyteller Gareth Higgins.

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