The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a story about Henrietta Lacks and the cancer cells that killed her and afterward, revolutionized science. It is about the Lacks family and how the decades without proper recognition contributed to their disadvanteged social position. And to a lesser extent, it is also about medical ethics and racial inequality.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a novel about Junior, a poor kid who grows up on a reservation in Washington state. Maybe because much of the book mirrors Alexie’s life, it seems like a memoir.
Alexie’s book is at turns touching, funny, and tragic. Junior, the protagonist, is not only poor and outcast by friends and family, but he is also bullied constantly. You will find yourself cheering and empathizing with the bookish underdog that is Junior; who despite his deficits and challenges, manages to live life pretty much like anyone else.
Humans are making enormous progress against global poverty and diseases, we’re living longer, more children are going to school. You name the area of concern (except global warming) and we’re improving. That’s been the case since roughly the end of the Second World War. Perhaps it isn’t so evident in the ‘West.’ But most people don’t live in the ‘West’ anyway.