"Taking the high road may be arduous and long but it will lead to justice and triumph."

I have never heard of Patricia Bath, the first African American woman to receive a medical patent. A woman who cared about correcting eyesight and giving everyone the chance at sight. Excellent person to learn about! ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr.

Plot Summary: Patricia knew from age 6 that she wanted to be a doctor. Her parents knew how important education was and Patricia had a drive. When she got her first job as an ophthalmologist, her office was in the basement, next to the lab mice. Knowing it was because she was a Black woman, she spoke her mind and got her office moved. The other doctors gave her the more difficult cases and she rocked them all. Inspired by a situation when she was young, she hoped to solve the issue of cloudy eyes. Can she do it?

Setting: Born in 1942

Characters:
Patricia Bath

Recurring Themes: perseverance, doctor, eye doctor, value of education, race, women equality

Controversial Issues:

Personal Thoughts: This book was about vision - as in, Patricia had a vision to help those with vision loss. The cover is a little confusing because I thought it would be more about prescriptions! I spent the entire book waiting for that part! Since my mom just had cataract surgery, this book was interesting. However, I'm not sure how relevant it would be to young children.

Genre: information text, biography

Pacing: medium - picture book format, read it aloud to my 4&6 year old
Characters:
Frame:
Storyline:

Activity: ( )

Patricia Bath, born on November 4, 1942 in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, was the first African American to complete a residency in ophthalmology in 1973. In 1976, she co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, which established that "eyesight is a basic human right." In 1986, she invented the Laserphaco Probe, improving treatment for cataract patients. She patented the device in 1988, becoming the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent.

The author of this biography for ages 6 and up tells us that while other little girls played nurse, six-year-old Patricia played the doctor. She stitched and sewed her dolls, mending them and dreaming of helping people in the same way one day. The fact that she was an African American, a girl, and from a family without money didn’t phase her then, or at any time. Her parents stressed the importance of education and hard work, and encouraged her interest in science by buying her a chemistry set.

At the age of 16, Patricia became one of only a few students to attend a cancer research workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The program head, Dr. Robert Bernard, was so impressed by her discoveries during the project that he incorporated her findings in a scientific paper he presented at a conference.

After graduating from high school in only two years, Patricia headed to Hunter College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1964. She then attended Howard University to pursue a medical degree. She graduated with honors from Howard in 1968, and accepted an internship at Harlem Hospital shortly afterward. The following year, she also began pursuing a fellowship in ophthalmology at Columbia University. Through her studies there, she discovered that African Americans were twice as likely to suffer from blindness than other patients to which she attended, and eight times more likely to develop glaucoma. Her research led to her development of a community ophthalmology system, which increased the amount of eye care given to those who were unable to afford treatment; she convinced her former professors to operate on patients for free.

In 1975, she moved to California to join the famed Jules Stein Eye Institute; she was the first woman hired there. At first she was given an office in the basement, next to the lab animals. Patricia demanded an equal workspace upstairs, and got it. Then she continued her quest of trying to restore sight to the blind. She came up with the idea of using lasers in eye surgery, and traveled to Europe in 1986 to study the idea, eventually inventing a new tool called the “Laserphaco Probe.” The U.S. granted her a patent for the device in 1988.

The story then skips to Patricia’s retirement years, when she traveled to Tanzania, visiting a school for the blind, where the kids did not even have braille books. She sent them braille-computer keyboards, calling it “computer vision.” The author writes, “Dr. Patricia Bath saw possibility wherever she went.”

Dr. Bath died on May 30, 2019 at the age of 76 at a University of California, San Francisco medical center from cancer-related complications. She was granted many honors and awards during her lifetime, including the 1995 NAACP Legal Defense Fund Black Woman Achievement Award. She was inducted into the American Medical Women’s Association Hall of Fame in 2001.

The book concludes with a timeline, Author’s Note, more background about Dr. Bath, and a guide to further resources.

Alleanna Harris uses bright colors and a style reminiscent of animation to illustrate Patricia’s story.

Evaluation: This book highlights a little-known pioneer in African-American history and in medical history. Readers of all ages will find her story inspiring; she was an amazing person whose confidence and dedication are well worth emulating. ( )

In this interesting account of the inventor of the Laserphaco Probe, young readers will learn how perseverance, belief and an unrelenting drive to help the blind lead Patricia Bath to become a hero to so many. From humble begins and a strong-willed family, Patricia found the courage to become something others could only imagine. Neither social norms of the times or unfair treatment could stop her from becoming a doctor and inventing a technology that has helped so many people regain their sight.

I especially loved the extra information about Dr. Bath in the back matter and suggested titles for further reading that will give children further information about women in STEM. ( )