College Book

The College Book for Spring semester is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Henrietta was a poor black woman who died of cervical cancer at the age of 31 in 1951 but not before her cells were harvested, without her knowledge, in the name of medical research. These cells have been essential in developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Yet Henrietta’s name was unknown for decades, and her descendants haven’t been able to afford health insurance.

This book is part detective story, part science, part ethics controversy.

The Main Campus Library owns six copies, most of them for one week’s use and available at the Reserve Desk. The call number is RC265.6 L24 S55 2010.

The author’s website http://www.rebeccaskloot.com has interviews, teacher resources, even an interactive Jeopardy game based on the book.

The Friends of the Library essay contest prompt, based on the book, will be announced by January 20. Check back here for the contest prompt and details.

Questions? Call Diane Gustafson, 619-482-6433.