This smoothly written picture book--written byWu's great-granddaughter, an American doctor, and inspired by her daughter's first-grade writingassignment--introduces a heroic researcher whose practical approach to disease preventionsaved many lives, notably during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Wee's pleasing digital artillustrates the story within effective period settings. This picture-book biography showcases asignificant, lesser-known East Asian scientist/physician. --Booklist The mother and daughter co-authors, both descendants of their subject, trace the course of Wu's career. They deftly cast light on medical issues and the racism Wu faced, drawing parallels between past and present. Chockablock with timely themes and connections to recent world-shaking events. --Kirkus Reviews Woo Liu's great-grandfather, physician Wu Lien-teh (1879-1960), stars in a biography that focuses on its protagonist's implementation of face masks to combat disease. When a 'terrible disease' sweeps through Northeast China, Lien-teh is asked to help.
The gauze masks that the physician innovates end the outbreak, and later prove useful during the 1918 flu and as a prototype for Covid-combatting masks that 'became part of everyday life.' --Publishers Weekly Despite the discrimination and doubts Lien-teh faced, his perseverance and courage to invent an effective face mask has proven its worth to humanity, time and time again. 'Masked Hero: How Wu Lien-teh Invented the Mask That Ended an Epidemic' is a fascinating, inspirational story in every way. --The Reading Eagle.