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The 2012 selection is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot’s journalistic narrative about a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance. This book, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by more than 60 critics, will be incorporated into PCC’s new First Year Seminar course (College 1) and should provide grist for rich, equity-focused, interdisciplinary inquiry projects involving multiple campus and community stakeholders.
