Breakthrough!: How Three People Saved "Blue Babies" and Changed Medicine Forever

By Jim Murphy

Book Overview

In 1944 a groundbreaking operation repaired the congenital heart defect known as blue baby syndrome. The operation'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, Blalock's African American lab assistant, who stood behind Blalock in the operating room to give him step-by-step instructions.

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0547821832
• ISBN13: 9780547821832
• Release Date: December 2015
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.2" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7