Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
My sister and I decided to both read this and have our own little book club meeting over Thanksgiving, and I'm glad we did; it's a book I've been meaning to read for a long time (but you all know I avoid non-fiction as much as possible) and there's a reason it was on so many best-of lists last year. Skloot does a really good job of weaving together the story of Henrietta and her family--and the story of her cells and the scientists who made them a crazy force in scientific research. And it's all very readable--normally non-fiction takes me a lot longer to read than a novel would, but I plowed through this with no trouble at all (at least until the afterword, which delves into Important Ethical Issues and loses the train of the story somewhat). Plus there are several points where Pittsburgh plays a part! I look forward to talking about it while in that awesome city. :) A.
Rebecca Skloot did her homework and gave Henrietta Lacks not only recognition for the advancements the medical field has made with her cells but also has put a face and a history on this grand lady. Credit has been given, finally, to Henrietta and her family for her contribution to saving so many lives in the world.
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