Books for Young Readers

Decoding Genes With Max Axiom, Super Scientist | Amber J Keyser | Capstone Press | 2020 | 32 pages | ISBN: 978-1543572476 | Grades 3-4

DNA Is You! The Marvelous Science Behind Your One-of-a-Kind-ness | Katie McKissick | Adams Media | 2019 | 256 pages | ISBN: 978-1721400171

The One and Only Me: A Book About Genes | Ariana Killoran | 23andMe, Inc. | 2016 | 32 pages | ISBN: 978-0989153713 | Grades PK-3

Who Was Charles Darwin | Deborah Hopkinson | Penguin Workshop | 2005 | 112 pages | ISBN: 978-0448437644 | Ages 8-12

Learn.Genetics

The Eccles Institute of Human Genetics (EIHG) at the University of Utah sponsors the Genetic Science Learning Center, a website to explore videos, virtual labs, images of actual cells, and interactive exercises covering a massive amount of information on genetics.

Films

Cracking Your Genetic Code (NOVA): What will it mean when most of us can afford to have the information in our DNA—all six billion chemical letters of it—read, stored, and available for analysis? What are the moral dilemmas raised by this new technology? Will it help or hurt us to know the diseases that may lie in our future? What if such information falls into the hands of insurance companies, employers, or prospective mates? One thing is for certain: the new era of personalized, gene-based medicine is relevant to everyone. Watch with your personal public library card or university login

The Gene Doctors (PBS): "Through intimate stories of families whose lives are being transformed, The Gene Doctors takes viewers to the front lines of a medical revolution. With early successes and new treatments appearing on the horizon, families battling genetic diseases have never had such good reasons for hope."

On Beauty (Kartemquin Films): "The film looks at beauty through the lens of fashion photographer Rick Guidotti, who highlights vibrant individuals with genetic conditions. At the center of On Beauty are two of Rick's photo subjects: Sarah, who left public school for homeschool after being bullied so harshly for the Sturge-Weber birthmark on her face and brain; and Jayne, who lives in Eastern Africa where witch doctors hunt people with albinism to sell their body parts and the society is blind to their unique health and safety needs."

Pink and Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer (Pink & Blue Inc.): "The documentary takes a profound look into the BRCA world examining what it is and how this gene mutation puts both women and men at risk for developing numerous cancers. The film highlights the message that men are equally as likely to carry a BRCA gene mutation and this lack of information is deadly."

DIY Exhibit

Genome: Unlocking Life's Code This exhibit is a partnership between the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). Interact with the exhibit using the online Library Resources or assemble a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Exhibit. "This free, print-on-demand exhibit consists of graphic panels, interactive media, and a community programming toolkit. It can be adapted to a variety of venues, including community centers, libraries, coffee shops, hospitals, transit hubs, museums, and science centers."

Book

One morning, Tophs, Taylor Harris’s round-cheeked, lively twenty-two-month-old, wakes up listless, only lifting his head to gulp down water. She rushes Tophs to the doctor, ignoring the part of herself, trained by years of therapy for generalized anxiety disorder, that tries to whisper that she’s overreacting. But at the hospital, her maternal instincts are confirmed: something is wrong with her boy, and Taylor’s life will never be the same.

With every question the doctors answer about Tophs’s increasingly troubling symptoms, more arise, and Taylor dives into the search for a diagnosis. She spends countless hours trying to navigate health and education systems that can be hostile to Black mothers and children; at night she googles, prays, and interrogates her every action.

Some days, her sweet, charismatic boy seems just fine; others, he struggles to answer simple questions. A long-awaited appointment with a geneticist ultimately reveals nothing about what’s causing Tophs’s drops in blood sugar, his processing delays—but it does reveal something unexpected about Taylor’s own health. What if her son’s challenges have saved her life?

Essence, A Most Anticipated Title of the Year | An Electric Literature Most Anticipated Title of the Year | The Millions, A Most Anticipated Book of the Year | Indie Next 2022 Pick

This Boy We Made: A Memoir of Motherhood, Genetics, and Facing the Unknown | Taylor Harris | Catapult | 2022 | 272 pages | ISBN: 978-1948226844 | WorldCat |  

Author

Taylor Harris is a writer, wife, and mom of three who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her work has appeared in TIME, O Quarterly, The Washington Post, Longreads, The Cut, Romper, Parents, McSweeney’s, and other publications.

Official website for Taylor Harris

Book

In our unique genomes, every one of us carries the story of our species—births, deaths, disease, war, famine, migration, and a lot of sex. But those stories have always been locked away—until now. Who are our ancestors? Where did they come from? Geneticists have suddenly become historians, and the hard evidence in our DNA has blown the lid off what we thought we knew. Acclaimed science writer Adam Rutherford explains exactly how genomics is completely rewriting the human story—from 100,000 years ago to the present.

National Book Critics Circle Award - 2017 Nonfiction Finalist | A National Geographic Best Book of 2017| An Amazon Best Book of 2017 | 2017 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner | Winner of the 2018 Thomas Bonner Book Prize | A New York Public Library Book of the Day

A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold Through Our Genes | Adam Rutherford, Ph.D. | 2018 reprint | The Experiment | 416 pages | ISBN: 978-161519494 | WorldCat |  

Author

Adam Rutherford, Ph.D., is a geneticist, science writer, and broadcaster. He studied genetics at University College London, and during his Ph.D. on the developing eye, he was part of a team that identified the first known genetic cause of a form of childhood blindness. As well as writing for the science pages of The Guardian, he has written and presented many award-winning series and programs for the BBC, including the flagship weekly Radio 4 program Inside Science, The Cell for BBC Four, and Playing God (on the rise of synthetic biology) for the leading science series Horizon. He is also the author of How to Argue With a Racist, an incisive guide to what modern genetics can and can’t tell us about human difference, and The Book of Humans, a new evolutionary history that explores the profound paradox of the “human animal.”

Official Website of Adam Rutherford, Ph.D.

Interview

Book

As he did in his Pulitzer ­Prize-winning history of cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies (2010), Mukherjee views his subject panoptically, from a great and clarifying height, yet also intimately. Framing his story are pieces of his own family history: His cousin and two of his uncles “suffered from various unravelings of the mind,” and the specter of mental illness, presumably inherited or inheritable, haunts his family and his imagination. The books form a magnificent pair. “The Emperor of All Maladies” is, as Mukherjee notes, the story of the genetic code corrupted, tipping into malignancy. The new book, then, serves as its prequel.

New York Times Bestseller | New York Times Notable Book | Washington Post Best Book of the Year | Seattle Times Best Book of the Year

The Gene: An Intimate History | Siddhartha Mukherjee | Scribner | 2016 | 592 pages | ISBN: 978-1476733500 | WorldCat |  

Author

Siddhartha Mukherjee is the author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction, and The Laws of Medicine. He is the editor of Best Science Writing 2013. Mukherjee is an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a cancer physician and researcher. A Rhodes scholar, he graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School. He has published articles in Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, The New York Times, and Cell. He lives in New York with his wife and daughters.

Official Website of Siddhartha Mukherjee

Documentary

Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History PBS Documentary adapted from the award-winning book of the same name by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. The series tells the story of the rapid evolution of genetic science from Gregor Mendel's groundbreaking experiment in the 19th century to CRISPR and the hope that newfound powers to alter DNA with pinpoint precision will transform the treatment of some of the world's most complex and challenging diseases. The series also tackles the daunting ethical challenges that these technologies pose for humankind.

Book

Everyone knows about DNA. It is the essence of our being, influencing who we are and what we pass on to our children. But the information in DNA can’t be used without a machine to decode it. The ribosome is that machine. Older than DNA itself, it is the mother of all molecules. Virtually every molecule made in every cell was either made by the ribosome or by proteins that were themselves made by the ribosome. Venki Ramakrishnan tells the story of the race to uncover the ribosome’s enormously complex structure, a fundamental breakthrough that resolves an ancient mystery of life itself and could lead to the development of better antibiotics. A fascinating insider account, Gene Machine charts Ramakrishnan’s unlikely journey from his first fumbling experiments in a biology lab to being at the center of fierce competition at the cutting edge of modern science.

Nobel Prize-Winning Author

Gene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome | Venki Ramakrishnan | Basic Books | 2018 | 288 pages | ISBN: 978-0465093366 | WorldCat |  

Author

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan is a structural biologist who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath. Since 1999, he has worked as a group leader at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, UK and is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He served as President of the Royal Society from 2015-2020.

Wikipedia page for Venki Ramakrishnan

Book

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot | Broadway Books | 2011 | 400 pages | ISBN: 978-1400052189 | WorldCat |  

Author

Rebecca Skloot is an award-winning science writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Discover; Prevention; Glamour; and others. She has worked as a correspondent for NPR’s Radiolab and PBS’s NOVA scienceNOW and is a contributing editor at Popular Science magazine and guest editor of The Best American Science Writing 2011. Her work has been anthologized in several collections, including The Best Creative Nonfiction. She is a former vice president of the National Book Critics Circle and has taught creative nonfiction and science journalism. She is the Founder and President of the Henrietta Lacks Foundation.

Official Website of Rebecca Skloot

Interview

Book

Rosalind Franklin knows if she just takes one more X-ray picture--one more after thousands--she can unlock the building blocks of life. Never again will she have to listen to her colleagues complain about her, especially Maurice Wilkins who'd rather conspire about genetics with James Watson and Francis Crick than work alongside her. Then it finally happens--the double helix structure of DNA reveals itself to her with perfect clarity. But what happens next, Rosalind could have never predicted. Marie Benedict's next powerful novel shines a light on a woman who died to discover our very DNA, a woman whose contributions were suppressed by the men around her but whose relentless drive advanced our understanding of humankind.

Her Hidden Genius | Marie Benedict | Sourcebooks Landmark | 2022 | 283 pages | ISBN: 978-1728229393 | WorldCat |  

Author

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator at two of the country's premier law firms, who found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women. Her mission is to excavate from the past the most important, complex and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can finally perceive the breadth of their contributions as well as the insights they bring to modern day issues. 

Official Website of Marie Benedict

Library Programming

With the increased popularity of at-home ancestry testing, Americans are becoming more and more interested in genetics, but many still have limited knowledge of basic genetic concepts. Libraries are information hubs and education centers that can help their community members access trusted health information - and you don't have to be a scientist. Here are a few "ready-to-use" programs and resources to help the public learn more.

Speaker

Genetic information can help you know your risk for certain diseases including how to manage genetic risks for inherited diseases.

Invite a genetic counselor to share expert information about Genetic Testing. To find a speaker, use the National Society of Genetic Counselors.

Share resources such as A Guide to Family Health History available for free download in English or Spanish from the Genetic Alliance and What You Need to Know About Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing.

 Curriculum

Finding Your Roots - The Seedlings is a series of web episodes and corresponding curricula. Any educator -  parent, teacher, or librarian - can download and customize the curriculum to create a formal or informal exploration of genomics and DNA.

There's an NIH for that... and more

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is NIH's biomedical research agency for advancing genomics research. Find an Introduction to Genomics as well as guidance on Direct-to-Consumer Genomic Testing.

Genomics & Precision Health is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consumer-friendly website. It has health topics for understanding your Family Health History and Genetic Testing: What You Need to Know.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), America's consumer protection agency, provides clear and basic information to understand Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests.

Book

In 1936 Kentucky, Cussy Mary Carter works for the Pack Horse Library Project, delivering books to the needy in the backcountry of Kentucky. Born with a genetic condition that gives her blue skin, Cussy is viewed with suspicion by most of her customers. However, nothing will stop her from delivering the joy of books to those living in the back hollers.

An Oprah's Buzziest Books Pick for May | Indie Next Pick | LibraryReads Pick | Southern Independent Book Alliance (SIBA) Spring OKRA PICK

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek | Kim Michele Richardson | Sourcebooks Landmark | 2019 | 308 pages | ISBN: 978-1492671527 | WorldCat |  

Author

Kim Michele Richardson was born in Kentucky and resides part-time in Western North Carolina. She has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, building houses, and is an advocate for the prevention of child abuse and domestic violence, partnering with the U.S. Navy globally to bring awareness and education to the prevention of domestic violence. She is the author of the bestselling memoir The Unbreakable Child, and a book critic for the New York Journal of Books. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is her fourth novel.

Official Website of Kim Michele Richardson

MedlinePlus

Learn about the genetic disorder Methemoglobinemia, beta-globin type

 Book

In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father. She woke up one morning and her entire history – the life she had lived – crumbled beneath her. Inheritance is a book about secrets – secrets within families, kept out of shame or self-protectiveness; secrets we keep from one another in the name of love. It is the story of a woman’s urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is a book about the extraordinary moment we live in–a moment in which science and technology have outpaced not only medical ethics but also the capacities of the human heart to contend with the consequences of what we discover. 

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love | Dani Shapiro | Daunt Books | 2019 | 272 pages | ISBN: 978-1911547501

Author

Dani Shapiro is the author of the memoirs Hourglass, Still Writing, Devotion, and Slow Motion and five novels including Black & White Family History. Also, an essayist and a journalist, Shapiro’s short fiction, essays, and journalistic pieces have appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Tin House, One Story, Elle, Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, the op-ed pages of the New York Times, and many other publications. She has taught in the writing programs at Columbia, NYU, the New School, and Wesleyan University; she is co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy. She lives with her family in Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Official Website of Dani Shapiro

 Book

A.J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: "You don't know me, but I'm your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database." That's enough family members to fill Madison Square Garden four times over. Who are these people, A.J. wondered, and how do I find them? So began Jacobs's three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history. Jacobs's journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a U.S. president, found himself singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearthed genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels. After all, we can choose our friends, but not our family.

It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree | A.J. Jacobs | Simon & Schuster | 2017 | 352 pages | ISBN: 978-1476734491 | WorldCat |  

Author

A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, and lecturer. He has written a few New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. He is also editor-at-large at Esquire magazine, a commentator on NPR, and a columnist for Mental Floss magazine. Jacobs grew up in New York City. His father is a lawyer who holds the world record for the most footnotes in a law review article (4,812). His wife works for a highbrow scavenger hunt called Watson Adventures. He lives in New York with his family.

Official Website of A.J. Jacobs

Interview

Book

Through the stories of their ancestors, Bush and Kemp take us on a compelling journey through African American history into the hearts of individual lives. In tracing their ancestral roots, these family historians discover their connections to some of the South's most powerful men, both famous and forgotten. The community at the heart of this historical study is Edgefield, South Carolina, yet the stories in this book form a microcosm of events experienced by black communities throughout the South. An enslaved maternal line is traced to 1799; hopes are raised, then dashed, when a family of freedmen acquires land after the Civil War, only to later lose it; the "Dark Corner" of Edgefield is exposed. Shining a bright, sometimes uncomfortable light, deep truths are unearthed through DNA results and a new family is found. Follow the authors through years of meticulous genealogical research, historical settings, and DNA testing as they reclaim their family stories and inspire others to embark on their own journey of discovery.

Award Finalist, 2018 Best Book Award, History: United States | Co-Winner of SCAAHC's 2017 Project Award

There Is Something About Edgefield: Shining a Light on the Black Community through History, Genealogy and Genetic DNA | Edna Gail Bush and Natonne Elaine Kemp | Rocky Pond Press | 2017 | 332 pages | ISBN: 978-0999240601 | WorldCat

The book review begins at 00:29:30 and ends at 00:37:00.

Just Finished Reading - There Is Something About Edgefield. Random Thoughts on History by Tim Talbott. December 19, 2017

Authors

Natonne Elaine Kemp is a family historian. Both of her paternal grandparents were born in Edgefield County, South Carolina. She previously served as the editor of Homeplace, the official newsletter of the Old Edgefield District African American Genealogical Society (OEDAAGS), and appeared as co-host of BlogTalkRadio show, Bernice Alexander Bennett’s Research at the National Archives and Beyond. As a 2010 graduate of the National Institute on Genealogical Records (NIGR), now known as the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (Gen-Fed), she currently is a member of the Louisa County Historical Society and the Virginia Genealogical Society and serves on the Journal Editorial Board of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. She is a well-known presenter at numerous local and national genealogical conferences.

Edna Gail Bush passed away on January 18, 2018. She co-authored There Is Something About Edgefield, Shining a Light on the Black Community through History, Genealogy, and Genetic DNA in honor and loving memory of her parents, grandparents, and most of her great grandparents who were born in Edgefield County, South Carolina. She was a member of the Old Edgefield District Genealogical Society (OEDGS), the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), and the National Genealogical Society (NGS). She also was retired from the New York State government’s former Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities.

Official Website of Co-Authors

 Book

Weaving historical and current scientific research, his own experience with his two daughters, and the kind of original reporting expected of one of the world’s best science journalists, Zimmer ultimately unpacks urgent bioethical quandaries arising from new biomedical technologies, but also long-standing presumptions about who we really are and what we can pass on to future generations.

She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity | Carl Zimmer | Dutton | 2018 | 672 pages | ISBN: 978-1101984598 | WorldCat |  

Author

Carl Zimmer is a columnist for the New York Times and the author of 13 books about science. Zimmer is a frequent guest on Radiolab and has written hundreds of articles for magazines such as National Geographic, The Atlantic, and Wired. He is, to his knowledge, the only writer after whom a species of tapeworm has been named.

Official Website of Carl Zimmer

Interview