This is part of a series for middle-school readers about the “Childhood of Famous Americans.”

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to attend medical school in the United States and she went on to found the New York Infirmary for Women and Children and then a medical school for women (the latter endeavor having to wait until after the Civil War was over before it could open).

This fictionalized biography focuses on her childhood in England and the United States, the incidents that piqued her interest in healing, and her constant goal to become a doctor and practice medicine. She was a pioneer in the field of hygiene, insisting that hospitals and clinics be kept spotlessly clean, and thereby limiting infection.

The book is both entertaining and informative, and possibly inspiring for young girls who read it. ( )

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Childhood biography of the first American woman to attend medical school