A middle-grade adaptation of Rebecca Skloot's critically acclaimed, New
York Times nonfiction bestseller
Henrietta Lacks was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same
land as her slave ancestors, and whose cells--taken without her
knowledge when she was treated for cancer in 1951--have become one of
the most important tools in medicine. The Lacks family did not learn of
Henrietta's cells until 20 years after her death, but these first
"immortal" human cells grown in culture are still alive today: they've
been bought and sold by the billions and have been vital in fighting
polio, cancer, and many viruses. This incredible book explores race,
bioethics, scientific research, human rights, the power of family, and
the question of whether we control the very cells we're made of.