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    Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World
    Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World
    Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World
    Audiobook4 hours

    Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World

    Written by Jack Andraka and Matthew Lysiak

    Narrated by Kevin R. Free

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    About this audiobook

    Featured in the 2018 movie Science Fair!

    A National Science Teachers Association Best STEM Book of 2017

    In this acclaimed memoir, teen innovator and scientist Jack Andraka tells the story behind his revolutionary discovery.

    When a dear family friend passed away from pancreatic cancer, Jack was inspired to create a better method of early detection. At the age of fifteen, he garnered international attention for his breakthrough: a four-cent strip of paper capable of detecting pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers four hundred times more effectively than the previous standard.

    Jack's story is not just a story of dizzying international success; it's a story of overcoming depression and homophobic bullying and finding the resilience to persevere and come out.

    His account inspires young people, who he argues are the most innovative, to fight for the right to be taken seriously and to pursue our own dreams. Do-it-yourself science experiments are included in each chapter, making Breakthrough perfect for STEM curriculum.

    But above all, Jack's memoir empowers his generation with the knowledge that we can each change the world if we only have the courage to try.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 10, 2015
    ISBN9780062397553
    Author

    Jack Andraka

    Jack Andraka was just a fifteen-year-old Maryland high school student when he invented an inexpensive early-detection test for pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers. Now, at eighteen, he has already won the 2012 Intel ISEF Gordon E. Moore Award, the 2012 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Youth Achievement Award, first place in the 2014 Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, and the 2014 Jefferson Award. He speaks to audiences across the globe about his personal story, his research, LGBT issues, and his ideas for STEM education reform. He has been featured in several documentaries, including Morgan Spurlock's You Don't Know Jack, as well as countless radio, newspaper, and magazine articles.

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    Reviews for Breakthrough

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Jack is a science-minded kid who excels at experimentation and science fairs. However, his middle school experience is full of bullies, questions about fitting in, and getting comfortable in his own skin. He has a lot of success in the science fair circuit. Inspired after his uncle died from Pancreatic Cancer, he goes on a quest to discover an early detection test for it. His determination to find a solution and get lab space is inspiring. His success brought on awards and opportunities to spread his message, met the press, and even attend the State of the Union. His question for discovery continues on and has implications for schools today. Sometimes heavy on the science, but the message is a positive one of dogged perseverance and discovery.
    • 5/5
      This is the fabulous true story of Jack Andraka, a boy who, at the age of fifteen, came up with a early detection test for pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer. HIs method is much more effective than what doctors used previously and cost only three cents a test. The story is more than just that of a young successful innovator. It details quite clearly Jack's path of creative inventiveness, the close connection he had with a dear family friend who Jack called "Uncle Ted" and how Ted's death inspired Jack to help others suffering from the same disease. It also does a great job of explaining when and how Jack realized he was gay, and how he handled some of the homophobic bullying that he faced regularly. It is an inspiring read for a variety of reasons and one that young people should not miss.