Rebecca Skloot and her best seller, The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, has created a lot of interest in the immortal HeLa cells that were taken from a 31-year-old black woman called Henrietta Lacks without her family's consent at the Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore in 1951. She describes the story of how Henrietta Lacks died and how her cells were sent around the world for medical research.

I really need people to understand the reason behind me writing this book about my grandmother Henrietta Lacks. For those who have never heard of her, she is the first human whose cell line was able to grow in culture; her cells were unlike any other cells. While others cells would die, Henrietta Lacks cells doubled every 20 to 24 hours. She has contributed to the medical field in ways that no other cell line has done. HeLa cells has helped with the polio vaccine, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, sensitivity to tape, dental, and even used in the cosmetic field. 

When three-month-old Lia Lee arrived at the county hospital emergency room in Merced, California, a chain of events was set in motion from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Lia's parents, Foua and Nao Kao, were part of a large Hmong community in Merced, refugees from the CIA-run "Quiet War" in Laos.

SuperSummary, a modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, offers high-quality instructional study guides for challenging works of literature. This audio study guide for Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as the impact of censorship on society, the triumph of knowledge over ignorance, and technology and the natural world.

This audio study guide for Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes, such as the importance of proverbs and fathers and sons. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics. Published in 1958, Things Fall Apart portrays the collision between the traditions and beliefs of Nigerian Igbo culture with the forces of European colonialism.