White House Secrets are Not a New Thing!

 

White House Secrets: Medical Lies and Cover-Ups (Medical Fiascoes) 

by Gail Jarrow 

288 pages; ages 10-17

Calkins Creek, 2025

Given all the political goings-on this year, this seems like a perfect time for a book about White House secrets to hit the shelves. And a perfect time to reflect on the medical fiascoes that have occurred during past presidencies. With that in mind, let’s head up to Capitol Hill – or at least open the cover of the book and dive in.

Did you know that eight US presidents died in office? And that more than a third of our presidents became seriously ill during their term in office? “Yet,” writes Gail Jarrow, “Americans were deliberately kept in the dark… Lies were told. Cover-ups were orchestrated.”

Gail writes from the position that Americans have a right to know whether their elected leader is healthy enough to perform the duties of his office. But sometimes family members hide health problems. Sometimes it’s presidential aides hiding their leader’s infirmities. And sometimes it’s the president himself – whether out of self-preservation or denial.

When James Garfield died of an infected gunshot wound, his vice president, Chester Arthur took over. Unfortunately, he had a kidney disease that resulted in fatigue, among other issues. Meanwhile, he staged photo opportunities to show himself as a hale and hardy outdoorsman, writes Gail.

Gail also examines the presidencies of Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, FDR, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Regan, and Joe Biden. The first page of each chapter includes fast facts: dates elected, biographical information, and their term in office. Within the chapter, Gail discusses the politics surrounding their presidencies, their health issues, legal and political ramifications, and what happens when a president is incapable of making decisions. 

I particularly liked the last chapter, in which Gail talks about the influence of a president on the American people, and reasons why they hid their health problems. “Grover Cleveland feared his cancer diagnosis would trigger a financial crisis,” she notes. Others have kept serious illnesses secret to “maintain power and prevent the vice president from taking over.”

The thing is, Gail points out, that there is no law that requires a candidate or sitting president to take a physical or cognitive test to prove that they are capable of performing the duties of the office. And asking for transparency about a president’s health raises a lot of questions. For example, is the president’s right to privacy more important than the public’s right to know medical details? Should certain medical conditions be disqualifying?

This book is a great resource for teachers and school libraries, offering jumping-off point for discussions and debates about history, politics, health, and ethics. I give it a rating of 5 stethoscopes. 

The Medical Fiascoes series includes Blood and Germs, which follows the advances in medicine during the Civil War and American Murderer about the parasite that haunted the south, which I reviewed here.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Your Body’s Goops, Juices, and Hormones

The Gland Factory: A Tour of Your Body’s Goops, Juices, and Hormones 

by Rachel Poliquin; illus. by Clayton Hanmer 

80 pages; ages 8012

‎Greystone Kids, 2025

Another fun book about the human body by the same team who gave us The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers a couple years ago. I love the table of contents: a map of the Gland Factory so we know where to begin our tour. First stop: the mouth machine. You may want to put on a poncho and a hardhat, because things can get messy on the factory floor. The Mouth Machine has teeth that can crush you dead, and saliva glands that could drown you in spit. 

Make sure you hold on tight as we climb the ladder up to … the nostrils and inner nose. Hmmm, looks like the floor supervisor is doing a safety inspection of the nasal glands…

 After a quick stop at the eyes we get to Main Control in the hypothalamus. No gloop here! This is a messenger gland, a control station that sends and receives a continuous stream of chemicals from endocrine glands. Together they coordinate the body’s vital systems: circulation, digestion, sleep, metabolism, temperature control, and more. These important messages are sent through the bloodstream, similar to rolled up notes stuffed in a bottle and sealed and tossed into a stream. Unlike notes in a bottle, the messages are read and responded to. 

Upon receiving a message, the worker in charge runs it through the hormone decoder machine and then releases the appropriate response hormone from the hormone storehouse. At least that’s how it works in the gland factory. In real life it’s all about body chemistry and receptor cells that ensure the correct hormone message connects with the correct body part.

The tour exits through the waxy ear holes, but before you go, please fill out a visitor survey. (And leave your hardhat and protective gear.) Back matter includes a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Space Medicine and Exploration

 

 I have a couple books today for kids who love space and might want to be an astronaut or astronomer. The first is all about keeping healthy in space.

 

Spacecare: A Kid's Guide to Surviving Space
by Jennifer Swanson
80 pages; ages 8-12
‎Mayo Clinic Press Kids, 2023

Living in space is not like living on Earth, writes Jennifer Swanson. It’s dark and cold. Or sunny and hot. And then there’s the whole lack of gravity thing, which can affect our earth-adapted body in so many ways. Even if you’re safely aboard the International Space Station, which has atmospheric pressure and temperature regulation, your body will feel the effects of microgravity, radiation, and all other sorts of space phenomena.

Space can affect our eyes, our heart, our brain, and our bones. It affects our muscles, our sense of balance, and our sleep cycle. In this book, Jen takes a close look at how living in space puts new stresses on our body, and how space doctors help astronauts adapt to their new environment. Their research doesn’t stop when astronauts return to earth – they follow the health of returned space voyagers to see what (if any) long term effects there are from space travel. 

Questions from kids are sprinkled throughout the book, and answered by astronaut Megan McArthur. They ask things like: do cuts take longer to heal in space? and what happens when you sneeze? There are plenty of “Mayo Medi-facts” boxes throughout the book that explain health issues, and a full spread showing what a well-stocked first aid kit should contain (for Earthlings on their home planet). And there are sidebars about space technology, from space suits to growing food in space. Plus space squid!

This book was a lot of fun, so I had to ask Jen Two Questions:

Me:  It feels like you’ve been writing about space and astronauts for a long time. What is it about space travel and exploration that captures your imagination so much?

Jen: This is only my second book about astronauts. But I've done other space books and I have a couple more in the works. What I love so much about exploration in general, whether it be in space or under the ocean, is the amazing ingenuity of the humans who make this possible. I mean, wow, building a place that keeps humans alive in an environment that is so hugely hostile to them take some really cool thinking and awesome engineering. Using that place to do science to investigate, explore, and solve questions about our place in the universe? Even better!

Me: If you had a chance to go to the International Space Station, would you? And what would you want to study?

Jen: Actually, I'm not sure. I'm not great in confined spaces... I'd much rather write about the cool science and engineering being done to get humans to space and also what they do up there. If I did go, I'd love to study more about the effects of radiation on humans. That fascinates me.

Jen Swanson is a member of #STEAMTeam2023. You can find out more about her at her website, www.JenniferSwansonBooks.com. She is also the creator and co-host of Solve It! for Kids podcast www.solveitforkids.com

Thank you, Jen. Now let’s check out another book for space-bound teens.

 

The Big Backyard: The Solar System beyond Pluto
by Ron Miller
104 pages; ages 13-up
Twenty-First Century Books , 2023

If you could travel to the farthest reaches of our solar system what would you find? It’s a cold, dark world out there, filled with comets, floating icebergs, strange dancing particles, and other stuff left over from the formation of our solar system. Author, Ron Miller starts with the birth of our solar system some 5 billion years ago, and the formation of planets.

Then we go on a planet hunt (with some historical sky-watchers), explore the Kuiper belt, and then head on beyond Pluto. Just how far does the sun’s light reach? And what’s between our solar system and those distant stars? “The nearest stars,” he says, “are so far away that their light takes more than four years to reach Earth.” Even from that distance they have an effect on our solar system, and he shows how modern researchers study the distant sky – our “big backyard” he calls it.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by the publishers.