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Saving the World
Saving the World
Author: Julia Alvarez
Alma, the narrator of Saving the World, discovers a small historical footnote while doing research for a novel: In 1803, a Spanish doctor crossed the Atlantic with twenty-two orphan boys— -- live carriers of the smallpox vaccine— -- to inoculate the population of Spain's American colonies. Accompanying them on the two-year voyage was a...  more »
ISBN-13: 9781565125100
ISBN-10: 156512510X
Publication Date: 4/7/2006
Pages: 368
Rating:
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 15

3.3 stars, based on 15 ratings
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Saving the World on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is a fine book, but it requires patience. This book intertwines the stories of two women, centuries apart, caught up in daring experimental campaigns to end epidemics (one of smallpox, another of AIDS). It is also about how politicized these initiatives become and how little control any one person has over the outcome. Because these are two separate stories, the book is complex and slow to get started. As the stories progress, we come to care deeply about these women and their travails. We cheer for their personal victories, however small in comparison to the challenges they face, and for the triumph of hope in their lives.

Very much worth reading.
mentalorigami avatar reviewed Saving the World on + 12 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Very, very entertaining, very, very well written. The two stories of Isabel and Alma are put together in a way that makes them mirror each other, a voice from the past with a voice from the present. I enjoyed the character Tera - everyone knows someone like her. The idea of doing something crazy on a whim to try and solve a problem bigger than oneself is prevalent, as well as the victories and consequences.
Read All 3 Book Reviews of "Saving the World"


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