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16 reviews for:
Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World
Matthew Lysiak, Jack Andraka
3.98 AVERAGE
16 reviews for:
Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World
Matthew Lysiak, Jack Andraka
3.98 AVERAGE
I don't suppose this book will win any literary awards, but I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it - mostly for its complete candor and resounding enthusiasm. Jack almost bursts out of the pages and says, "Care about this!!!!!!!" His absolute commitment to science is a joy to experience.
It blows my mind to know that Jack Andraka has accomplished so much. He is an inspiration. I like how he talked about the personal effects of bullying and how he coped. The book was somewhat simplistic in sentence structure, but that could help some younger readers.
Perseverance, gumption, and motivated to learn. This is one amazing and inspiring kid! Great read.
Written by a teen for younger teens. So be aware of that before you start reading.
Jack Andraka shares the story of his amazing science breakthroughs, accomplished during his middle school and high school years, one of which was developing a minimally invasive test for the early detection of pancreatic cancer, the disease that claimed the life of a close family friend of his.
Around the same time his family friend was dying, Jack was enduring bullying for having come out as gay. He immersed himself in science experiments to get through those years, devoting many hours every week to the work. He also had a lot of family support, which extended to securing his access to needed supplies. resources and math camps. Good for him for not taking it for granted and working to make the world better.
Jack Andraka shares the story of his amazing science breakthroughs, accomplished during his middle school and high school years, one of which was developing a minimally invasive test for the early detection of pancreatic cancer, the disease that claimed the life of a close family friend of his.
Around the same time his family friend was dying, Jack was enduring bullying for having come out as gay. He immersed himself in science experiments to get through those years, devoting many hours every week to the work. He also had a lot of family support, which extended to securing his access to needed supplies. resources and math camps. Good for him for not taking it for granted and working to make the world better.
Jack lives and breathes science--and some experiments he breathes more than others. His family is super-supportive; his magnet middle-school is supportive but his classmates aren't. Jack is already depressed and being bullied when he comes out as gay, but even then he has other things on his mind: his Uncle Ted has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and it was already pretty advanced when it was discovered. After Ted's death Jack throws himself into science: what if he could create a test that could detect pancreatic and other cancers far earlier, and would cost far less than the tests currently in use? By the time he's 15, he's done it--but that's not to say any step of his journey was easy.
Jack's memoir is an engaging, hopeful read, and his enthusiasm for his work is palpable. He tells his story chronologically, which has the side effect of making the first half almost exclusively about his social troubles and the second half explaining his scientific research and processes, but the two halves blend neatly into each other. Jack's passion for science and discovery may inspire high schoolers to pursue their own scientific curiosities.
Jack's memoir is an engaging, hopeful read, and his enthusiasm for his work is palpable. He tells his story chronologically, which has the side effect of making the first half almost exclusively about his social troubles and the second half explaining his scientific research and processes, but the two halves blend neatly into each other. Jack's passion for science and discovery may inspire high schoolers to pursue their own scientific curiosities.
I got to meet him and this book really summed up the lecture he gave. It has amazing at home science experiments for families to try. He's an amazing, innovative guy who has made the world a little bit better.