The Secret of Yellow Death by Suzanne Jurmain

Jurmain, Suzanne The Secret of Yellow Death, 101 p. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. $19.00. Until 1900, no one in the world had a good grasp of what actually caused the disease known as "yellow fever". Then the U.S. Government sent a team of doctors and nurses to the newly conquered island of Cuba to research the disease. Jurmain's book brings this scientific process to light. With an engaging voice, she clearly lays out the steps and protocols that the doctors used to finally find an origin and then create a cure for the disease that used to kill so many, so easily. What students to day might find fascinating is the use to human volunteers as test subjects - when they knew that they might contract the disease. If your school reads a book set in these times, or if you have a teacher with an interest in illustrating the scientific method with true stories, this would be a handy book to own. MS, HS - OPTIONAL. Cindy, Library Teacher