Elixir

Eric Walters brings the 1921 discovery of insulin to life through twelve-year-old Ruth, whose mother works in the University of Toronto building where Banting and Best are running their secret experiments. Ruth gets swept up in the protests of anti-vivisectionists, nearly sabotages the research, and then meets a girl dying of Type 1 diabetes — a shift that changes everything. The historical backdrop is accurate and genuinely important, and the ethical questions the book raises about animal research are handled with real care for young readers. The caveat from reviewers is fair: Ruth herself is thinly drawn, and the emotional payoff arrives later than it should. Strong as a curriculum supplement on a landmark medical discovery; slightly less satisfying as pure story.