Jim Murphy and Alison Blank have put forth a wonderful account of the history of Tuberculosis in Invisible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-ending Search for a Cure.  They begin with “This is the story of a small, harmless germ that has been infecting people for millions of years.”  But once a reader gets into the first chapters of the book, they will no longer look at TB as a harmless germ.  Through the author’s chronicling of its history — how people felt and lived with a germ they didn’t even know was causing their symptoms for thousands of years, to its mass spread largely due to living conditions in the industrial revolution, to the concoctions and treatments used to try to heal the sick — students could gain a large respect for the generations that died, sometimes in horrific ways, trying to solve the mystery of the germ and for the researchers who are still working to make sure TB outbreaks are rare.  A large amount of ground is covered with detail in the book’s 150 pages, but the text is so smoothly written and on spot for a middle school and high school audience with its tone of TB being such a medical mystery.  Images, both historical pictures and other drawings/graphs are scattered about to break up and enlighten the text.  This is also such a great source because the generations that witnessed the debilitating effects and epic death counts from this germ are themselves passing on.  The current generations need to be aware and vigilant to keep the disease at bay for as long as humanly possible.  Highly recommended for high school and public libraries, especially at its $18.99 price.