Breakthrough

how one teen innovator is changing the world
Jack Andraka

'This kid is the Edison of our times.'

Dr Anirban Maitra

‘Inspiring … Jack’s motivation is to make the world a better place and to encourage other teens to do so too.’

Weekend Herald

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'Funny, brave and super-enthusiastic, with a healthy dose of adolescent egotism and some comic glimpses of the trials of being Jack's parent, Breakthrough is an inspiring story for would-be scientists … just don't complain when they turn your microwave into a ray gun.'

Jane Shilling, Daily Mail

'A heartening and inspirational read.'

Keeley Bolger, Dubbo Weekender

‘Anyone who is feeling despair about bullying, about homophobia, about how to make their great idea come to fruition, would do well to read this incredible story’

Geelong Advertiser

'High school students would gain immensely from reading Breakthrough, and the rest of us would too, especially to help keep the feeling of hope alive.'

Kieran Salsone, Queensland Times

‘The book is pitched at young people and Andraka’s geeky charm comes through. So even if he has been over-hyped, in the end what’s not to like about a gay nerd doing his bit to show how exciting braininess can be?’

Owen Richardson, Sydney Morning Herald

'Spectacular stuff … What Jack is doing is better than what I was doing in high school, I promise you.'

Barack Obama

An inspiring teenage memoir from globally renowned young scientist Jack Andraka.

Have you ever had a problem you would give everything to solve — a problem so difficult you would spend years searching for a solution?

When Jack Andraka was thirteen, he had a whole pile of problems like this. An outsider at school, he knew he didn’t fit in — and a close family friend was dying of cancer. But instead of giving in to the bullying and the despair, he took another path. Using his passion for science, he decided to try to create a better method of cancer detection. After conducting two years of research and asking hundreds of universities and companies for help, to no avail, Jack was finally able to secure the lab space necessary to test out his ingenious idea. In the end, he did it. Jack’s early-detection test for pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancers has the potential to be over four hundred times more effective than the medical standard — and it costs only three cents per use. Jack was just fifteen at the time he came up with his solution.

Jack Andraka’s story is not just one of inspiring teenage success; it is a story of overcoming depression and homophobic bullying, and of finding the resilience to persevere. Whatever your age and interests, his book will motivate you to pursue your own dreams in the face of resistance, and to never stop learning. Full of fun, simple experiments you can try at home, Breakthrough is an amazing personal story and a reminder of why young people’s ideas deserve to be heard.

'This kid is the Edison of our times.'

Dr Anirban Maitra

‘Inspiring … Jack’s motivation is to make the world a better place and to encourage other teens to do so too.’

Weekend Herald

View all reviews

Jane Shilling, Daily Mail

'A heartening and inspirational read.'

Keeley Bolger, Dubbo Weekender

‘Anyone who is feeling despair about bullying, about homophobia, about how to make their great idea come to fruition, would do well to read this incredible story’

Geelong Advertiser

'High school students would gain immensely from reading Breakthrough, and the rest of us would too, especially to help keep the feeling of hope alive.'

Kieran Salsone, Queensland Times

Owen Richardson, Sydney Morning Herald

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 210mm × 135mm

Extent:256pp

ISBN (13):9781922247926

RRP:£12.99

Pub date:9 Apr 2015

Rights Held: UK & Commonwealth

Rights Sold: India (Speaking Tiger)

High-res cover:Download Image

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AUTHOR

Jack Andraka

Jack Andraka is the recipient of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award, was awarded first place in the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, and has received a National Geographic Explorer grant, the Intel Gordon Moore Award, and the Stockholm Water Prize. In 2013, he was Michelle Obama’s personal guest at the State of the Union address. Andraka has been featured in several documentaries, including Morgan Spurlock’s You Don’t Know Jack, and in newspapers and magazines around the world. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland, and enjoys kayaking and watching Glee.