Awards

• Junior Library Guild Selection
• Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Awards Nominee
• NSTA/CBC Best STEM Books Award

Overview

The first-ever picture book biography about Dr. Katalin Karikó, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Growing up in a small Hungarian town, Kati Karikó was curious about everything.That included her family’s farm animals—and the cells inside of them. As an adult, she channeled her curiosity into her work as a scientist. Kati wanted to find a way to use mRNA to help the body fight illnesses, but it wasn’t easy. An mRNA vaccine had never been made before, and she faced frequent criticism and was told by other scientists she would never succeed. But after many years of hard work and dedication, she figured out how to use mRNA to make a vaccine—and when a deadly virus called COVID-19 started infecting millions of people, Kati’s invention turned out to be exactly what the world needed. Never Give Up is the inspiring true story of a determined scientist who proved that a little bit of curiosity and a lot of hard work can save lives.

Full Product Details

9781728456331

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""[A] fascinating and up-to-date choice for primary science, health, and women's history units.""--Booklist -- (4/15/2023 12:00:00 AM) ""An engaging look at scientific dedication and the timely development of effective vaccines.""--Kirkus Reviews -- (12/15/2022 12:00:00 AM) ""Bright, beautiful illustrations are rendered in pencil and finished digitally. . . . Informative as well as inspiring, this book shows how Karikó's tenacity is proof to never give up. A first purchase for all biography collections.""--starred, School Library Journal -- (2/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)"

An engaging look at scientific dedication and the timely development of effective vaccines. --Kirkus Reviews -- (12/15/2022 12:00:00 AM) Bright, beautiful illustrations are rendered in pencil and finished digitally. . . . Informative as well as inspiring, this book shows how Kariko's tenacity is proof to never give up. A first purchase for all biography collections. --starred, School Library Journal -- (2/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)

"""An engaging look at scientific dedication and the timely development of effective vaccines.""--Kirkus Reviews -- (12/15/2022 12:00:00 AM) ""Bright, beautiful illustrations are rendered in pencil and finished digitally. . . . Informative as well as inspiring, this book shows how Karikó's tenacity is proof to never give up. A first purchase for all biography collections.""--starred, School Library Journal -- (2/1/2023 12:00:00 AM)"

The inspiring story of a passionate scientist whose persistence pays off. A childhood on a farm in a Hungarian village might not seem a promising path to immunological fame, but Kati Kariko (b. 1955) strides undeterred toward her dreams. Her curiosity is empowering, and she knows that discipline (like choosing the Science Olympics over a vacation) is nonnegotiable. Asking unexpected questions, she embarks on a long-shot quest: enabling bodies to heal themselves via messenger RNA. Other (male) scientists deride the goal, but she is not discouraged, even when it means personal sacrifice. A chance meeting suggests a new approach, and it works. Kariko takes her research to BioNTech. Then Covid-19 breaks out, but Pfizer/BioNTech are able to quickly make millions of doses of reliable vaccine thanks to Kariko's unswerving focus: As we're told early on, 'Making one small change could have a huge impact.' The restrained but realistic illustrations use lots of matte color, subtle linework, changes of perspective, and clever layout to provide visual interest and convey complex information. Quotes from Kariko and others in her field--including Anthony Fauci--are interspersed throughout. Kariko is White; background characters are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.) An engaging look at scientific dedication and the timely development of effective vaccines. --Kirkus Reviews -- Journal (12/15/2022 12:00:00 AM)

Author Information

Debbie Dadey is an author of early readers and graphic novels including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids Graphix Chapters Books. She lives in Sevierville, Tennessee, with her husband Eric and their dog Carmen. Juliana Oakley is an illustrator based in Bahrain who loves to work with color. She draws inspiration from her family, from travels, from nature, and childhood memories. Her illustrations often start from pencil sketches and are then finished digitally.

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