"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

Who would have believed I would love a science book? Rebecca Skloot does a great job of teaching while telling the story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who died of cancer while quite young. The doctors took a sample of her tumor which became known as HeLa. HeLa cells were used to propel science to unbelievable discoveries, including the cures for polio and hepatitis B to name a few. The problem...her family didn't know about these cells until 20 years later. They couldn't even afford health insurance...

A beautiful weaving of science, racism, educational differences and ethics. Nicely done.