A Shot in the Arm!: Big Ideas That Changed the World #3

Award-winning author Don Brown explores the history of vaccines from smallpox to COVID-19 in this installment of the Big Ideas That Changed the World series

A Shot in the Arm explores the history of vaccinations and the struggle to protect people from infectious diseases, from smallpox--perhaps humankind's greatest affliction to date--to the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlighting deadly diseases such as measles, polio, rabies, cholera, and influenza, Brown tackles the science behind how our immune systems work, the discovery of bacteria, the anti-vaccination movement, and major achievements from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who popularized inoculation in England, and from scientists like Louis Pasteur, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and Edward Jenner, the "father of immunology." Timely and fascinating, A Shot in the Arm is a reminder of vaccines' contributions to public health so far, as well as the millions of lives they can still save.

Big Ideas That Changed the World is a graphic novel series that celebrates the hard-won succession of ideas that ultimately changed the world. Humor, drama, and art unite to tell the story of events, discoveries, and ingenuity over time that led humans to come up with a big idea and then make it come true.


Author: Don Brown
Publisher: Amulet Books
Published: 04/20/2021
Pages: 144
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.80w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9781419750014
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.7
Point Value: 1
Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus
Quiz #/Name: 515256 / Shot in the Arm!


Review Citation(s):
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 02/01/2021
Booklist 02/01/2021 pg. 41
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2021
School Library Journal 03/01/2021 pg. 119
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2021 pg. 149

About the Author
Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many nonfiction graphic novels and picture books. His books have been called "masterful" and "a must for youth graphic collections." Brown has received an Eisner nomination, two Sibert Honors, a Horn Book Best Book honor, a YALSA award, and multiple starred reviews, among other awards and notices. He lives in Hudson Valley, New York, with his family.