An evocative and heartfelt graphic memoir about the challenges of living with a progressive disability.

When Maria Sweeney was young, she kept count of her broken bones. As she grew older, she stopped. Living with Bruck syndrome, a rare progressive condition that gives her very brittle bones and joint abnormalities, meant that those numbers climbed and climbed. Today she struggles every day, living in an often-inaccessible world. As an ambulatory wheelchair user, ordinary actions like entering a building, sitting at a café, or holding a cup of tea can be drastically different for her than for others.

With lush illustrations, Maria tells the story of her lifelong struggle to obtain care in an increasingly complicated and disinterested US healthcare system. But for every step that presents a struggle, there’s also beauty, friendship, art, and growth. She documents the relief she’s found in alternative therapies, particularly medical marijuana; in loving community and chosen family; and in nature and her creative practice. A powerfully understated critique of our modern world, Brittle Joints offers a generous, expansive look at how to live and love amidst the challenges of survival.

“Painting in strokes of brilliant color against more muted earth tones across the decades of her life, Sweeney makes visible the invisible, those daily nothings that those not experiencing chronic illness take for granted. . . . By highlighting both the truth of the struggles and the joys, Sweeney presents a fuller picture of the disability experience.” – Booklist, starred review

“A candid portrait of life with a disability, drawn in delicate brushstrokes and natural colors. . . . Sweeney shines a critical light on the ableism she was forced to contend with, including a lack of affordable transportation, an expensive and out-of-touch healthcare system, and even the high hospital counters she couldn’t see over when sitting in her wheelchair.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review