Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another thank you to Alicia (my daughter in law) for this scary, but needed book! Susannah's mystery illness grabbed her, throwing her into seizures, anger, rigid walking, not eating, highs and lows, but not easily diagnosed. She is a journalist and her captivating writing along with her father's notes, her medical files, notebooks her divorced parents used to keep up with her harrowing descent into madness, tells unflinchingly her awful dilemma of being misdiagnosed until one doctor figured out why her brain was on fire. A must read!!!

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Monster by Michael Grant

Monster by Michael Grant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read and loved the Gone series in 2008 when it was published and gobbled all the books in this series up, my students loved this series too! Now Grant is back with a new series but tied to the FAYZ after the dome is broken and the horror that was Gaia is now contained in the rock that was TAKEN from inside the mountain and as it hurtles through the sky, where it breaks up and a whole new horror of deadly powers is unleashed (alien rock/virus is ingested!!!) in teens and adults (Shade Darby, Armo, Justin, Vincent, Drake and Peaks) but I was so glad to see Dekka return (relived her nightmares, memories of those kids at Perdido Beach, and her last 4 years as no one). I also loved Malik's steadfast love and support (even when he did not support Shade) of crazy Shade Darby and her friend, Cruz. Can't wait for Villain which will be out last quarter 2018!!!

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Red Madness: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat by Gail Jarrow

Red Madness: How a Medical Mystery Changed What We Eat by Gail Jarrow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was in @tavia_clark's resources for monthly #YearofYA chat Thursday 1/26 st 8PM on STEM & YA Lit and as a nonfiction book, it was mesmerizing as the medical mystery of the Pellagra disease was discovered in the late 1890s and sickened and killed many in the United States. Along with the narrative the photographs were so compelling and heartbreaking. There were many doctors and scientists who worked so hard to find the cause, research, and investigate possible cures and hopeful eradication of this mystery illness. I was in awe of Dr. Goldberger but also his wife, Mary whom he corresponded with as well as consulted his deepest thoughts about his work. And it was his wife, Mary as the only female to participate in the "contagion test." Dr. Goldberger, his wife, and other doctors, friends and colleagues infected themselves with pellagra in different ways. What the doctors, the medical community and then the world learned from this most awful scourge was the knowledge of the extreme importance of vitamins in the human diet as well as a nutritious diet. Loved this medical detective mystery by Gail Jarrow!

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