About this item
Imagine microscopic worms living in the soil. They enter your body through your bare feet, travel to your intestines, and stay there for years sucking your blood like vampires. You feel exhausted. You get sick easily. It sounds like a nightmare, but that's what happened in the American South during the 1800s and early 1900s. Doctors never guessed that hookworms were making patients ill, but zoologist Charles Stiles knew better. Working with one of the first public health organizations, he and his colleagues treated the sick and showed Southerners how to protect themselves by wearing shoes and using outhouses so that the worms didn't spread. Although hookworm was eventually controlled in the United States, the parasite remains a serious health problem throughout the world. The topic of this STEM book remains relevant and will fascinate young readers interested in medicine, science, history-and gross stories about bloodsucking creatures"
About the Author
Gail Jarrow is the author of nonfiction books and novels, including: BLOOD AND GERMS: The Civil War Battle Against Wounds and DiseaseTHE POISON EATERS: Fighting Danger and Fraud in Our Food and DrugsSPOOKED!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of AmericaBUBONIC PANIC: When Plague Invaded AmericaFATAL FEVER: Tracking Down Typhoid MaryRED MADNESS: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat THE AMAZING HARRY KELLAR, Great American MagicianLINCOLN'S FLYING SPIES: Thaddeus Lowe and the Civil War Balloon Corps ROBERT H. JACKSON: New Deal Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, Nuremberg ProsecutorTHE PRINTER'S TRIAL: The Case of John Peter Zenger and the Fight for a Free Press Her nonfiction books have earned the Sibert Honor Book Award; the Jefferson Cup; Best Books awards from the National Science Teachers Association, New York Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books; YALSA Award Nomination for Excellence in Nonfiction; and Orbis Pictus Honor by the National Council of Teachers of English. Jarrow has received additional awards and recognition from the American Booksellers Association, American Library Association, Public Library Association, the Society of School Librarians International, Junior Library Guild, and Bank Street College of Education. A graduate of Duke University and Dartmouth College, Gail Jarrow lives in Ithaca, New York.
