Reviews--books by Rebecca Skloot and Libba Bray

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

By: Rebecca Skloot

Genre: nonfiction

Pages: 370

Stars: 4 out of 5

This book is truly eye-opening with an amazing personal touch. The reader doesn't need to be a biology enthusiast to enjoy its impact. The story is focused on the opinions of Henrietta’s children and how they discovered that doctors have been keeping their mother’s cells alive for 20 years before her own children discovered this fact. You will be enthralled with the voice of Deborah, Henrietta’s only daughter that lived. Skloot entwined the facts of the scientific methods developed and the illnesses the HeLa cells cured with the personal facts of Henrietta and her family’s story of their growing up, mostly without the presence of their mother due to her young death. I would love to see more work from Rebecca Skloot in the future.  You can find out more about her and her work on her website:  http://rebeccaskloot.com/

(The title above was the January book club pick for the Twin Lakes Readers Book Group that meets every third Wednesday at Twin Lakes at 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the meeting room.  For more information about this book discussion group you may call us at 262-877-4281 and ask for the Information Desk.)

The Diviners

By: Libba Bray

Genre: YA fiction

Pages: 578

Stars: 3 out of 5

I had heard Libba Bray speak at the Austin Teen Book Festival in September 2012. I mention this fact because this novel is written in 3rd person and I envisioned Bray’s voice as the narrator throughout the novel. While I wasn’t connecting enthusiastically with the story until over half way through, I felt Bray did a great job developing the characters; by the last half of the novel I felt I knew the characters and their voice. I was hoping to see more about Memphis and Theta in the story line, but perhaps that is part of book 2 of the trilogy. While the book’s main focus is the special and unique divining skills of the main characters there is a great mystery, too. I look forward to the rest of the trilogy as now I feel connected with the characters and can’t wait to see the rest of their story unravel.

(Reviews submitted by Heather L.)