Synopses & Reviews
HP Newquists thrilling volume explores the dark and often gruesome tales about blood. Though common among living beings, this substance is anything but ordinary. People have always feared and respected blood. It spills out at both birth and death—its bright red color like a warning sign—indicating events of the utmost significance. Ancient civilizations couldnt perform religious rituals without the revered liquid. Doctors up through the nineteenth century attempted to cure mysterious illnesses by draining their patients blood. Scientists only recently began to understand this fascinating fluid: how its microscopic components nourish the entire body, why simple transfusions dont always work, and that bloodletting likely killed people who otherwise would have lived. But back before people understood what blood really was, they had to weave their own explanations. Whether vampire legends, medieval medical practices, and Mayan sacrificial rites fascinate or terrify, this comprehensive (and sometimes horrific) investigation into bloods past and present will surely enthrall. And if this account is a little blood-curdling, well, thats half the fun!
Review
"This transfusion of information offers a rewarding experience to readers whether they're after the specific differences between blood types and other biological data or just gore's icky lore."--Kirkus "Blood-spattered pages play into the subject matter's potential for ickiness, even while Newquist makes it clear that blood is worthy of fascination, not fear."--Publisher's Weekly
Review
"A thorough and humorous exploration of our relationship with blood."and#8212;
VOYA"This transfusion of information offers a rewarding experience to readers whether they're after the specific differences between blood types and other biological data or just gore's icky lore."and#8212;Kirkus
"Blood-spattered pages play into the subject matter's potential for ickiness, even while Newquist makes it clear that blood is worthy of fascination, not fear."and#8212;Publisher's Weekly
"The conversational tone and the faux blood-spattered pages, replete with sidebars, color photos, archival drawings, and medical illustrations, are sure to pull readers in."and#8212;School Library Journal
"Newquist's prose is smooth enough that several chapters could actually function as nonfiction readalouds."and#8212;Bulletin
Review
"He seamlessly moves among exploration of history, mythology, film, literature and scientific discovery; the discussions of how everyone from Alfred, Lord Tennyson to Jules Verne to Walt Disney kept the myth of the ferocious kraken alive in people's imaginations are especially interesting. The book is abundantly illustrated with charts, maps and photographs."and#8212;
Kirkus Reviews "An attractive, informative book on an underrepresented topic."and#8212;Booklist "The concise text, complemented by illustrations, photographs, and maps, smoothly segues between history and science, and could almost pass for a Scientists in the Field entry but for the cover and title, which rightfully play to the monster audience. "and#8212;The Horn Book
Review
"Carefully separating fact from legend, Fleischman traces Gage's subsequent travels and subtle but profound personality changes." Kirkus Reviews, Starred
"Phineas Gage brings a scientific viewpoint to a topic that will be delightfully gruesome to many readers." School Library Journal
"The riveting topic will draw all kinds of readers, and they'll be fascinated even as they're educated." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Fleischman's bold, present-tense writing draws the reader into the story from the first sentence." Horn Book
"Fleischman is a fine science writer, and he has organized his book adroitly." Riverbank Review
"Science writer Fleischman uses a clipped, engaging expository style to tell this incredible story." Publishers Weekly
Review
andquot;A gripping look at a major medical breakthrough.andquot;
andmdash;Kirkus
Synopsis
A thrilling and lively tour of the world of blood, from ancient history to modern science, to dark and often gruesome legends of vampires and plague, this book informs readers about the most important tissue in the body.
Synopsis
Winner of the Magnolia Award
and#160;
HP Newquist takes young readers on an engaging tour of the world of blood, from
ancient history to modern scienceand#8212;with an occasional trip to the very strange side of
the most important tissue in our bodies. Oddly enough, scientists began to understand
this fascinating fluid only within the past one hundred years and how its microscopic
components nourish the entire body.
Whether the tales of vampires, medieval medical practices, and Mayan sacrificial
rites captivate or terrify, this comprehensive investigation into bloodand#8217;s past and present
will surely enthrall. And if this account is a little bloodcurdling, well, thatand#8217;s half the
fun!
Synopsis
In 1944 an unprecedented surgical procedure repaired the heart of a child with blue baby syndromeand#8212;lack of blood oxygen caused by a congenital defect. This landmark operation opened the way for all types of open heart surgery.and#160;The team that developed it included a cardiologist and a surgeon, but most of the actual work was done by Vivien Thomas, an African American lab assistant who was frequently mistaken for a janitor.and#160;
Synopsis
In 1944 a groundbreaking operation repaired the congenital heart defect known as blue baby syndrome. The operationand#39;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, Blalockand#39;s African American lab assistant, who stood behind Blalock in the operating room to give him step-by-step instructions.and#160;and#160;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.
Synopsis
HERE THERE BE MONSTERS: THE KRAKEN explores the existence of the mysterious giant squid, a sea creature that may have inspired stories of the legendary sea monster known as the Kraken.
Synopsis
HP Newquist's fast-paced account reveals how long-ago myths about the kraken transformed into the modern study of Architeuthis dux, the giant squid.Weaving scientific discovery with historical accountsand#8212;along with the giant squidand#8217;s appearance in film and literatureand#8212;Here There Be Monsters explores the mystery of this creature in fascinating detail. Readers will find that the monster remains hidden no longer, because scientists have finally seen the kraken with their own eyes . . . alive and rising up out of the sea.
Synopsis
Phineas Gage was truly a man with a hole in his head. A railroad construction foreman, Phineas was blasting rock near Cavendish, Vermont, in 1848 when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived another eleven years and became a textbook case in brain science. But he was forever changed by the accident, and what happened inside his brain will tell you a lot about how your brain works and what makes us who we are.
About the Author
John Fleischman uses his brain as a science writer with the American Society for Cell Biology and as a freelance writer for various magazines, including Discover, Muse, and Air & Space Smithsonian. He has been a science writer at the Harvard Medical School and a senior editor with Yankee and Ohio magazines. He lives in Ohio with his wife and a greyhound named Psyche.