FRED & MARJORIE

This graphic novel tells the story of an idea that saved countless children’s lives—but it required sacrifices from some of man’s best friends.

In 1920, juvenile diabetes was a death sentence. A young Canadian surgeon, Dr. Frederick Banting, worked with children dying of the disease and had a hunch that pancreatic secretions could be used to make a lifesaving treatment. However, in order to test his hypothesis, Dr. Banting would need to experiment on dogs, and most of them would die as a result. Banting’s hunch would eventually turn into the development of insulin, a lifesaving treatment for diabetics and a world-changing medical advancement, but at what cost? Poon’s delicate, empathetic illustrations help readers see that Dr. Banting is an animal lover who struggles with attachment to his stray-dog subjects and is heartbroken when they die as a result of their time in the lab. One in particular, Marjorie, captures his heart. Marjorie becomes the most long-lived test subject, proving that insulin treatments were ready for testing on a human patient, and dies a hero in Banting’s arms. Ethical issues are addressed in a concluding note in which readers are encouraged to think critically about the use of animals in lifesaving research; an author’s note and list of sources attest to Kerbel’s own research. Dr. Banting and his colleagues present White.

Readers will want to dig deeper into this true story of canine heroes and lifesaving science.