ALA Booklist (Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2000)

%% This is a multi-book review. SEE the title African American Women Writers for next imprint and review text. %% (Reviewed February 15, 2000)

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2000)

Each book contains over twenty short, cogently written biographies of trailblazing African Americans, from James Durham, the first black doctor in the United States, to Surgeon General David Satcher, and from Phillis Wheatley, the earliest published African-American poet, to novelist Terry McMillan. A black-and-white photo or drawing of each subject is provided when one exists. Time lines are included. Bib., ind.

Kirkus Reviews

Brief biographies of two dozen African-American doctors, nurses, and healers from the earliest days of this country to the present comprise this latest in the Black Star series. Biographies are divided into four chronological sections. Particularly in the early chapters, it is interesting to note how often information is simply lost: James Durham of New Orleans, first black doctor in the United States, vanishes from history after 1802, and it is not known when or where Civil War nurse Susie King Taylor, who published an autobiography in 1902, died. The struggles of black healers to secure a medical education when so many schools were closed to them and to continue their training in segregated hospitals come across clearly in story after story. Daniel Hale Williams was the first person to perform heart surgery (in 1893—the patient lived another 50 years), and Charles Richard Drew invented the blood bank in the 1930s. Minor misspellings and a wrong definition aside (obstetrics is the branch of medicine dealing directly or indirectly with birth, not a "branch . . . that deals with children"), the text is clear; it can be coy in spots, not defining, for example, what syphilis is, nor explaining why Jocelyn Elders had to resign from the office of the Surgeon General. (index, not seen, b&w photos, chronology, notes, bibliography) (Biography. 10-14)

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Two accessible collective biographies. Healers includes 24 individuals from Colonial times to the present, focusing on nurses, researchers, and doctors. Some are not well known, such as Dr. James Durham, who was born into slavery in 1762, bought his freedom, and became the first African-American doctor in this country. Others, like Charles Richard Drew or Joycelyn Elders, are more familiar. Each of the brief personal histories emphasizes the accomplishments of these pioneers in the field of medicine. Wilkinson's book spans the same time period and features 24 writers, the majority of whom will be familiar to most readers. From Phillis Wheatley to Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine Hansberry, Octavia Butler, and Terry McMillan, the authors represent a variety of genres. Each sketch includes a handsome black-and-white photo or reproduction and three to five pages of text along with occasional quotes from the woman's writing. Good introductions to their subjects' lives and accomplishments.-Janet Woodward, Garfield High School, Seattle, WA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.