2015
First Published
4.00
Average Rating
144
Number of Pages
"Murphy’s dramatic nonfiction narrative recounting of one of the first open heart surgeries ever performed is not to be missed." —School Library Journal (starred review) In 1944, a groundbreaking operation repaired the congenital heart defect known as blue baby syndrome. The operation’s success brought the surgeon Alfred Blalock international fame and paved the way for open-heart surgery. But the technique had been painstakingly developed by Vivien Thomas, Blalock’s African American lab assistant, who stood behind Blalock in the operating room to give him step-by-step instructions. The stories of this medical and social breakthrough and the lives of Thomas, Blalock, and their colleague Dr. Helen Taussig are intertwined in this compelling nonfiction narrative. Winner, Notable Books for a Global Society * Horn Book Fanfare List * A Booklist Best Young Adult Book
Avg Rating
4.00
Number of Ratings
451
5 STARS
29%
4 STARS
45%
3 STARS
22%
2 STARS
2%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads
Author
Jim Murphy
Author · 27 books
An American author of more than 35 nonfiction and fiction books for children, young adults, and general audiences, including more than 30 about American history. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2010 for his contribution in writing for teens. Jim lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, in a hundred-year-old house with his wife Alison Blank, a children’s TV producer and children’s book author and editor, his two talented musician sons, a regal mutt, an African water frog that will live forever, and a house vast collection of books..
