Roberta Baxter (1) (1952–)

I actually read this book a year ago and am just finishing up reading it to my seven-year-old. Despite the ominous looking picture on the cover, this book is not a weird thriller about vaccines gone wild. It's actually a wonderful way to introduce kids not only to the incredible history of vaccines, but also a readable explanation of how vaccines work with the human immune system. From ancient India, where smallpox was prevented by rubbing ground-up scabs into open wounds to Jonas Salk's lab all the way to Andrew Wakefield's infamy, the two characters in this book travel through time to settle a dispute about the safety and necessity of vaccines. It's not a perfect book, of course--the beginning chapter is particularly awkward. The representative from Galactic Space Academy speaks in a manner that feels forced and unnatural, but once you're past that, have faith that the book really does get interesting. The authors have a very unique skill in being able to take complex scientific ideas and make them comprehensible to kids and adults whose science IQ isn't as high as it should be. I really enjoyed that aspect of the book in particular. It's also nice to see a more diverse set of characters in a book like this. The main characters are African-American and Asian-American.… (more)