Uses for Books in Medical Emergencies:

I came up with these in the ER on Saturday (I was sick and got dehydrated).  They worked and I got to come home!:

1. Making the person giving me the IV Nymphadora Tonks, meaning I got to change the color and style of her hair to distract me (green hair, rainbow eyelashes...).
2. Reading, after I had had the IV for about an hour I could sit up and asked for my book to read.
3. Being read to, my parents were willing to read to me when I couldn't bend my arm because of the IV enough to hold a book.

Over the years, I've used other strategies, too:

1. Just the right book, really funny books by Jon Scieszka and Richard Peck, and really really engaging stories that I could get lost in.
2. Audio books, when I was too sick to read audio books were the solution.
3. Realistic books, I found it helpful to read books similar to my experiences, like Schnieder Family Book Award books.

Being really sick is never fun and mostly stincks, but reading books can sometimes be really helpful and maybe the second best medicine (the real stuff usuallly works, too).