Create your account image
Book of the month

Reading this title?

JOIN BOOKCLUBS
Buy the book
Discussion Guide

Racing Uphill

The candid, inspiring story of a woman's experience with a chronic, unpredictable neurological condition

When twenty-nine-year-old reporter Stacia Kalinoski regained consciousness on a couch at the TV station where she worked, she assumed that she'd had another seizure. But the electrical storm that had just torn through her brain was more destructive than she could have imagined, and the broadcast journalism career she loved swiftly came to an end. Forced to confront the reality of her medical condition, Kalinoski made the risky decision to undergo brain surgery, targeting the epilepsy that was ravaging her life.

In Racing Uphill, Kalinoski describes the seizures that occurred while she was running, which led to her pursuit of an uncertain cure. Rallying the grit she developed as an athlete and engaging the research and reporting skills she acquired as a journalist, she gives us a rare inside look at the ways epilepsy can change a life. Moving beyond her own personal experience, Kalinoski interviews prominent epileptologists to understand how seizures can spread, steal memories, and create strange behaviors and mood disorders. She seamlessly joins what she learned from her research with her own story, offering valuable insight into the experience of grappling with a relentless neurological disease.

The vivid auras that preceded seizures and the damage that followed; the toll of her epilepsy on her family and loved ones; the extraordinary determination her reckoning required--these are all part of Kalinoski's story of adversity, denial, acceptance, and resilience. In sharing the remarkable opportunity that epilepsy presented for her courage and growth, Stacia Kalinoski speaks to anyone facing an uphill battle and offers inspiration for taking control of one's own health.

These discussion questions were provided by the publisher, Univeristy of Minnesota Press.

Book club questions for Racing Uphill by Stacia Kalinoski

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

What have you learned about seizures that you didn’t know before? Do you feel like you would be able to recognize different types of seizures now, aside from a tonic-clonic?

Describe a moment in Racing Uphill that really opened your eyes to epilepsy. Will it stick with you?

Aside from her auras, Stacia had no idea what she was doing during her seizures, and she didn’t have control over her actions. How do you think you may have reacted if you saw one of Stacia’s seizures in public?

Stacia writes about the game she played with her family around a campfire with contemplative thought starters. “Would you rather remember everything, bad or good? Or remember nothing?” Based on Stacia’s experience with lost memories, what would you choose?

What would you ask Stacia about her experience if you had the chance?

If you could ask one person to read Racing Uphill, who would it be? And what do you hope the takeaway would be?

If you are a parent, did you relate in any way to how Stacia’s mom reacted to the letter from her coworker Kate?

Do you think you would take the risk of brain surgery without the guarantee of it completely working?

Stacia said that losing her career gave her no choice but to take care of her health, and she said brain surgery was the easiest decision of her life. Have you ever experienced a moment that forced you to do something risky to improve your life or a loved one’s?

Racing Uphill Book Club Questions PDF

Click here for a printable PDF of the Racing Uphill discussion questions