What Rebecca's Reading
- 'Serpent-Handling' West Virginia Pastor Dies From Snake Bite A “serpent-handling” West Virginia pastor died after his rattlesnake bit him during a church ritual, just as the man had apparently watched a snake kill his father years before.
- A Dispute Over Who Owns a Twitter Account Goes to Court How much is a tweet worth? And how much does a Twitter follower cost?
- A dollar badly spent: New facts on processed food in school lunches In a collaboration between The New York Times and the Investigative Fund, reporter Lucy Komisar delved into the billion-dollar business of the national school lunch program and found some unsettling news.
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June 19, 2011
Best of Queens Library Summer Reading Selects The Immortal Life
The Queens Gazette reports that The Immortal Life was chosen for the Best of Queens Library Summer Reading program.
You’ve probably heard a lot of hype about this book, and it’s all true. An uneducated black woman dies young and poor of cervical cancer, but her cells are kept alive and studied by scientists. Her cells lead to countless medical breakthroughs, but the Lacks family knows nothing about it. O, the Oprah Magazine, selected is as one of their Top Ten Books of 200 and called it a “multilayered narrative of race, class, and family.” The story was used for an episode of Law and Order and is being developed for an HBO special.
Learn about other community reads and FYE programs that are reading The Immortal Life.

The Henrietta Lacks Foundation
The Henrietta Lacks Foundation strives to provide financial assistance to needy individuals who have made important contributions to scientific research without their knowledge or consent.