DEAD ENDS!: FLUKES, FLOPS & FAILURES THAT SPARKED MEDICAL MARVELS — Review

Thought for the Day:

“Sit down and put down everything that comes into your head, and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.”
~ Colette ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

For a pantser like me, I found Gwen Hernandez’s post HERE on Writer Unboxed called I Meet the Villain Last pretty enlightening and hopeful.

Kristen Lamb is one of my favorites of the writer writers. HERE is a great post with lots of food for writerly thought called Why Choice—Not Talent—Drives Great Stories.

Tiffany Yates Martin has an interesting post HERE on her Fox Print Editorial blog about the Art of Seeing Others Deeply. This will help you develop your characters more fully.

We had a fun Super Bowl Sunday with just the result we were hoping for. I hope you all enjoyed your day. We all really loved the great commercials and the wonderful half-time show. One of my former students was in it! He played the father of the little boy who received the Grammy. Very exciting to see him there. He said it was a really fun gig. But the rest of my week wasn’t quite so grand. I took a really stupid tumble that had my daughter Sara hauling me off to the emergency room for half a day. It’s astonishing how much a small cut on the forehead can bleed. A couple of CT scans discovered some small bones broken in my nose, but no significant damage. No stitches. They glued my cuts closed. It’s a lot easier that way, I guess. I do, however, look like I went a couple rounds with Mike Tyson. Sara reminded me that purple is my signature color, so there’s that. The facial recognition on my phone doesn’t work, ice is my new best friend, and I’m happy to report that I’m really not in any pain. It could have been worse.

Last time I was here, I offered a gently-read paperback copy of HUNT FOR THE SILVER DRAGON by Linda Joy Singleton to one of you. This week’s winner is Danielle Hammelef, who always shares my link for an extra chance in the drawing. Congratulations, Danielle! I will get your book out to you soon. Thanks for sharing my link. I really appreciate it.

I keep reading about how popular non-fiction is with kids, so I do keep an eye open for good middle-grade non-fiction when I’m choosing books for reviews. I spotted DEAD ENDS!: FLUKES, FLOPS & FAILURES THAT SPARKED MEDICAL MARVELS, written by Lindsey Fitzharris and illustrated by Adrian Teal, on the list for the Portland Book Review, and thought it would be a fun read. I was not disappointed. And look at that cover. Middle-graders, even reluctant readers, won’t be able to resist that. Here is the review I wrote for PBR.

We have so many modern medical life-saving treatments that we often don’t think about how they came about. This marvelous middle-grade book takes a look at how people tried truly bizarre treatments over hundreds of years that somehow led to the miracles doctors seem to work today. Readers will be fascinated to know that holes were drilled in skulls to release demons or that some doctors thought milk, rather than blood, transfusions were a good idea. A fur trader in the 1800s was injured by a shotgun blast, leaving him with a fist-sized hole in his side. A doctor treated him, but the wound never closed. The doctor found that he had a great window into the inner workings of man. Stories like these fill the book and will keep youngsters engaged. The writing by Lindsey Fitzharris is easily accessible to young readers. While filled with facts, the writing is conversational and imbued with humor. Her research shines through on every page. The cartoonish illustrations by Adrian Teal are fun and will engage young readers all the way through. Everything is done in black and white and red, the perfect way to show such a bloody history. This one is fun and educational.

Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.