Faulk, Michelle. Case of the Infected Tick.

Faulk, Michelle.  Case of the Infected Tick.   Enslow  2013  48p   $23.93  978-0-7660-3948-3  series: Body System Disease Investigations.  ms     VG  

Middle-school students who enjoy investigative books will appreciate this new title featuring diseases that affect our body systems.  Students meet Agent Annie Biotica, who is a Disease Scene Investigator.  Her job is to help solve health crime scenes where microbes are the suspects.  To get students ready to help her solve these health issues, the author presents information on the human circulatory system and the human heart.  Agent Annie Biotica solves five cases dealing with the following: infected ticks and lyme disease; dirty needles and HIV and STD’s; mosquito bites and malaria; heart disease and rheumatic fever; and microbial and Epstein-Barr.  Every case includes the crime, clues, suspect, evidence, verdict, and justice.  To get students involved, three more cases are presented for students to solve, with answers provided. 

The author includes colorful graphics and photographs, a fun-to-read format, a glossary of terms, recommended books and internet addresses, and an index. 

Schools who participate in Accelerated Reader will be happy to provide an existing quiz to students (AR Quiz # 156534). Each title in this series of five (as of this review) presents real-life scenarios featuring infections.  Readers will experience the scientific method that medical teams and scientists use to decipher symptoms and lab test results.      

Tick-borne diseases, Communicable diseases            –Charleen Forba-Mayer

Faulk, Michele. Case of the Rusty Nail.

Faulk, Michele.  Case of the Rusty Nail.  Enslow      2013  48p   $23.93      978-0-7660-3949-0 series: Body System Disease Investigations  ms      E-BN

Nervous-system diseases are examined by a disease investigator in much the same fashion that the series Crime Scene Investigators examines crimes. The diseases highlighted in this book are tetanus, malaria, botulism, rabies, and meningitis.

With bright illustrations and a very engaging text, Dr. Faulk takes the reader through the scientific method of investigating nervous-system illness. Each case investigated begins with the “crime” (i.e., on page 20) and what happened to the patient prior to his or her illness.  The clues and suspects (i.e., on pages 21-22) are then analyzed and investigated, with evidence being tested (pages 23-24) and a verdict, or conclusion, being drawn (page 24). “Justice” (page 25) is served when the treatment for the disease is determined and begun.  Each of the nervous-system diseases in this book follows the same investigative pattern, making it very easy for students to follow the material presented.  The book then tests whether the reader has learned the information to conduct his or her own investigations in a section called “You Solve the Case.”  The book concludes with a glossary, a list for further reading (print and web), and an index.

Well-written, the series of four “body system disease investigations” can provide either general reading or valid, well-documented research information that would be a good adjunct to middle-school health classes.  

Nervous system – Infections                                   --Lynn Fisher