Our April Book Club pick is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. I thought this book was amazing when I first read it so I was thrilled that Book Club voted it in. We will be meeting on April 28. at Arden Dimick Library, from 10:30AM – 12.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks combines science with history and biography in an accesible and intersting way. A HeLA cell is a cell taken from a cell line that has been incredibly durable – seemingly immortal. These cells all derive from cells taken from a Black woman, Henrietta Lacks, in 1951. The removal of the cells was done without Lack’s knowledge or permission, and her family has not benefitted
Skloot explains the science of the cells and why they are so important. She also examines the life of the woman the cells came from, and helps surviving members of Lack’s family understand what happened and why. The book was made into a movie of the same title, starring Oprah Winfrey, in 2017.
