A Good and Perfect Gift

Mother of three—her eldest daughter has Down syndrome ("a condition your daughter has, not who she is")—Amy Julia Becker tells Penny's story in A Good and Perfect Gift, which is really an account of discovery. When the girl is born, the shock is profound. Becker is swept up in anguish and guilt ("the only trace of sin I see in Penny's birth," her mother tells her, "is the way we relate to her"). Through knowing Penny and questioning herself, Becker comes to understand that her daughter is not a punishment, a reward, the result of biology, or a lesson to be learned. She is simply herself. "She is not a perfect daughter, but neither are her siblings. We are not a perfect family, nor will we ever be—at least not by the standards I would have set for us years ago. But we are moving toward our true perfection because we are learning what it means to be human."