Customer Reviews

Living with Diabetes: Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
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Forget everything you thought you knew about the Miss America Pageant. After reading Nicole Johnson's Book "Living with Diabetes," it's clear this independent-thinking reformer immediately stepped off her pageant runway and into the trenches as a hands-on activist, lobbying for more comprehensive medical funding as well as raising both public consciousness and millions of dollars for diabetes research, forever metamorphosing public opinion along the way.

Without pandering or reverting to classic 'pageant Pollyannaism,' Nicole honestly and openly weaves a theme of conviction, hope and often painful realism. Particularly gratifying was how she consistently overcame obstacles and utilized the Miss America crown as a means to achieve diverse objectives as opposed to the title being the ultimate objective unto itself.

There she it...advocate, nonconformist, scholar, survivor. While perhaps altering the 'perfect ideal' of the Miss America dream, by giving the reader the opportunity to walk in her footsteps, Nicole conveys a sense of what the 'job' of Miss America is realistically like, made more complex by her constant struggle with an all too often debilitating disease.

Explaining, in easy to comprehend layperson's terms, the symptoms, causes, effects and potential cures for diabetes, Nicole provides an invaluable and potentially lifesaving public service in a format that is both sincere and heartwarming.

"Living with Diabetes" is classic American autobiography at its finest--candid, funny, introspective and inspiring--and is destined to become the great American success story of this decade.

WOW! I opened this book at eleven o'clock one night and couldn't put it down until almost three in the morning. Nicole Johnson does an amazing job of making you feel apart of every story. You will laugh, cry, and walk away with a new respect for those that battle this disease.
The book is well written and never looses your attention. I guarantee you won't be able to put it down. Congratulations Nicole!! Watch out NY Times bestseller list here comes Nicole Johnson!!

This is an open, honest account of daily living with diabetes. Ms. Johnson shares her history with us and lets us see how she has not only survived with diabetes, but made the most of her life because of her diabetes.

Not enough information/detail on her life as a diabetic. Focused too much on her Miss America experiences, without including how she handled her diabetes while Miss America.

As both a fan of the Miss America pageants and a diabetic, I felt drawn to this book. I was amazed at how many times Nicole Johnson landed in the emergency room before she was able with the help of her medical team to get her on a good program for living with diabetes. In her video on the Miss America show, she makes it all look so easy. We certainly learn from her book that nothing was easy for her. She truly struggled with this disease.

Her desire to help others suffering from diabetes is inspirational. I particularly liked the story about the little girl who told her mom that she wanted an "insulin pump just like Nicole's."

It just happens that I've been dealing with diabetes for over eleven years and so I could nearly write a book myself and so I could have probably stood less about the disease and more about Nicole herself and more behind-the-scenes stories from the pageant. But this is just me and obviously diabetes is the topic and needs to be in the forefront of her story. She tells her story in an informative and inspirational way. I am sure there are many grateful parents of diabetic children out there who appreciated the education Nicole offered during her year as Miss America and since then. I understand that she has a daughter of her own now. I send my best to them both. I still have the tape of the Miss America show when Nicole won her title and watch it frequently--I believe it was "Miss America 1999."

An inspiring yet often heart-wrenching story of a compassionate, intelligent and ambitous young woman who discovers she has diabetes and her mission to find a cure. A must read for anyone afflicted with this deadly disease, or may know someone with it. A fearlessly honest account of her eventual rise to the title of "Miss America", and sometimes the trouble even that high honor brought -- will keep you riveted, entertained, and enlightened. Terrific!

I am a friend of Nicole Johnson and I had read her book.Be her friend There were things I really didn't know about her.I am Glad she is here and I would tell anyone who may have diabetes or knows some who does to read this book.I don't have Diabetes but I may never know.It could happen to me.I really recommend you buy this book.It is the best investment you could make that may save you or some you know's life.