Sick!: The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
A Bank Street College School of Education Best Book of the Year 2025
Alabama Authors Awards Children’s Books Winner

* ＂A pathologically good time.＂ -Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Follow the scientists studying animals and the germs that infect them in this full-color nonfiction book packed with comic-style art.

When a super sickness lands on the land, when a parasite becomes more than a pest, when an infection ignites an epidemic, what’s a body to do? Your body is an animal body, so why not ask the animals?

Meet scientists around the world who are studying animals and the germs that attack them. From fungus-ridden frogs with fevers to bacteria-resistant buzzards and everything in-between, animals have A LOT to teach us about infections. But-reader beware!!-the story of germs is filled with twists and turns.

In this fascinating, highly visual nonfiction book packed with colorful, comic-style art, you’ll discover not only the cool ways that animal bodies (and our bodies) fight back against pesky pathogens, but also the amazing and surprising ways we can learn to work together with germs.

Sick! The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs is written by Heather L. Montgomery with graphic novel-style art from Lindsey Leigh.

Heather L. Montgomery has taught for over 20 years (both inside and outside the classroom) as well as directed a school-based environmental center. She has written curriculum; trained hundreds of teachers, naturalists, and librarians; and, helped thousands of children to make friends with the natural world. Each year, she works directly with over ten thousand children at festivals, school visits, and at environmental centers. During a typical presentation, petrified body parts and tree guts encourage scientific thinking and inspire reluctant readers. Her professional development programs for teachers have won awards and rave reviews. She lives in Ardmore, Alabama.
www.heatherlmontgomery.com

Lindsey Leigh is an illustrator and designer in Boston. She grew up near Washington, D.C., fascinated by the Smithsonian Museums and the Baltimore Aquarium. Her passion for communicating scientific ideas eventually led her to become a scientific illustrator. Her books include The Deep! Wild Life at the Ocean’s Darkest Depths.
www.lindseyleighart.com