"One hundred years ago, a mysterious and alarming illness spread across America's South, striking tens of thousands of victims. No one knew what caused it or how to treat it. People were left weak, disfigured, insane, and in some cases, dead.
Award-winning science and history writer Gail Jarrow tracks this disease, commonly known as pellagra, and highlights how doctors, scientists, and public health officials finally defeated it. Red Madness includes stories about real-life pellagra victims and accounts of scientific investigations. It concludes with an author's note. This book is perfect to share with young readers looking for a historical perspective of the Covid-19/Coronavirus pandemic that is gripping the world today."
"THE MEDIUM ANNOUNCES THE SPIRITS HAVE ARRIVED …
It is the early twentieth century and the spiritualism movement is soaring in America. World War I and an influenza pandemic have killed hundreds of thousands. People are desperate to communicate with their dead loved ones, so they seek the help of mediums, psychics, and fortune tellers.
The mourners don’t realize they’re being deceived by frauds. But famed magician Harry Houdini isn’t fooled. He knows that these scammers’ methods are no more than conjurer’s tricks. Houdini and his team of investigators, led by detective Rose Mackenberg, set out to expose the ghost hoaxes.
Acclaimed nonfiction writer Gail Jarrow ventures into this world of séances, psychics, secret agents, and magic. Enter if you dare …"
"Formaldehyde, borax, salicylic acid. Today these chemicals are used in embalming fluids, cleaning supplies, and acne medications. But just over a hundred years ago, they were routinely added to all kinds of food by unregulated and unethical companies. Noted science and history writer Gail Jarrow introduces readers to the relentless work of U.S. government chemist Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley, who mounted a thirty-year campaign to protect consumers from harmful food and drugs. As part of his research, he tested food additives by serving them to a squad of volunteers—the poison eaters. The stubborn dedication of Wiley and his allies eventually led to the creation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and to safer—less poisonous!—food, drugs, and cosmetics."
"Acclaimed nonfiction writer and Sibert Honor winner Gail Jarrow begins her new series on medical fiascoes with an in-depth look at the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history. The Civil War took the lives of more than 600,000 men. Bullet wounds
were deadly, but twice as many soldiers died from disease—pneumonia, diarrhea, typhoid fever, measles, and smallpox. Tens of thousands who survived the war were permanently disabled or disfigured. Yet out of this tragedy came medical
progress. Doctors and nurses gained valuable experience treating the injured and sick. Military and medical officials recognized that proper sanitation in camps and hospitals could save lives. Improvements to the ambulance service and hospital
system lowered the fatality rate. An expert at blending science and history, Jarrow relies heavily on primary documents—first-person accounts and medical case studies—to reveal the true stories behind the battle against wounds and disease."
"Tiny creatures lurk in the warm soil of the American South, waiting to attack a human victim. Once they invade through bare skin, the parasites travel deep into the gut of the unsuspecting host, where they suck blood like a vampire.
Hookworm takes center stage in YALSA-winner Gail Jarrow’s third book of the Medical Fiascoes series. In this exciting medical mystery, she reveals how a parasite slowly drained the energy and life from millions of southerners. Can early twentieth-century scientists and doctors uncover its secrets, fight back, and cure the victims?
Turn the page to meet the American Murderer …"
"James Garfield has only been the United States president for a few days when a
stranger begins stalking him. Who is this man? And what does he want from the
president? For weeks, the threat to Garfield grows, undetected, until a sudden
violent encounter catches Washington by surprise.
In this gripping thriller, Sibert Honor-winner Gail Jarrow continues her Medical
Fiascoes series by exploring events from the summer of 1881. Anxious Americans
intently follow news reports in the aftermath of the stranger’s shocking attack on
Garfield. Can the president’s doctors save him? Have their mistakes put him in
new danger? Jarrow uncovers these answers and more in the haunting true story
about a fiasco that changed the course of political and medical history."
