NEVER GIVE UP: AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR DEBBIE DADEY AND ILLUSTRATOR JULIANA OAKLEY

Meet Hungarian American biochemist Katalin “Kati” Karikó. She became fascinated by science as a child and grew up determined to find a way to use messenger RNA—a copy of a part of DNA that provides cells with instructions to make proteins—to help fight illness. Never Give Up: Dr. Kati Karikó and the Race for the Future of Vaccines follows her journey from her childhood in rural Hungary to leading the way in the creation of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

Today author Debbie Dadey and illustrator Juliana Oakley join us to discuss the inspiration behind their work and their hopes for young readers as they discover Dr. Karikó for the first time.

In the following post, designer Mary Ross shares her experience working on the Medical Breakthroughs graphic novel series and explores why the graphic novel medium offers a unique way to teach history and science!

Like many designers, I am and always have been a very visual person, naturally drawn to the medium of a graphic novels to explain complex ideas. I was also raised in a household with a parent working in the medical field. Growing up, these two worlds intersected and entwined themselves into a combination that influenced how I design today; clean and precise, with all the right information shown in an easy-to-understand way, as best I can. While these two worlds are not normally mutually exclusive, I was giddy at the thought of combining a subject as austere as the medical field with the format of something as visual and engaging as a graphic novel.

While many scientists believed influenza would cause the next great pandemic, no one was prepared for the new strain of coronavirus that appeared in 2019. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has infiltrated every country and put global public health and the economy at risk. Health-care systems have been pushed to the limit as protective gear, life-saving equipment, tests, and vaccines are scarce and in high demand. From the initial infection to the widespread impact on daily life, Understanding Coronaviruses: SARS, MERS, and the COVID-19 Pandemic examines the intricacies of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 and how they compare to previous viruses and pandemics.

Read on to hear from author Connie Goldsmith who shares how she tackled this research-driven project and how she hopes this title will help YA readers make informed decisions.