{"product_id":"saving-the-world-9781565125582","title":"Saving the World","description":"Latina novelist Alma Huebner is suffering from writer's block and is years past the completion date for yet another of her bestselling family sagas. Her husband, Richard, works for a humanitarian organization dedicated to the health and prosperity of developing countries and wants her help on an extended AIDS assignment in the Dominican Republic. But Alma begs off joining him: the publisher is breathing down her neck. She promises to work hard and follow him a bit later. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The truth is that Alma is seriously sidetracked by a story she has stumbled across. It's the story of a much earlier medical do-gooder, Spaniard Francisco Xavier Balmis, who in 1803 undertook to vaccinate the populations of Spain's American colonies against smallpox. To do this, he required live \"carriers\" of the vaccine. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Of greater interest to Alma is Isabel Sendales y G mez, director of La Casa de Exp sitos, who was asked to select twenty-two orphan boys to be the vaccine carriers. She agreed-- with the stipulation that she would accompany the boys on the proposed two-year voyage. Her strength and courage inspire Alma, who finds herself becoming obsessed with the details of Isabel's adventures. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This resplendent novel-within-a-novel spins the disparate tales of two remarkable women, both of whom are swept along by machismo. In depicting their confrontation of the great scourges of their respective eras, Alvarez exposes the conflict between altruism and ambition. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJulia Alvarez's new novel, \u003ci\u003eAfterlife\u003c\/i\u003e, is available now.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Algonquin Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/27\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781565125582\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 400\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.89lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.22h x 5.64w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAccelerated Reader Quiz #\/Name: \u003c\/b\u003e108887 \/ Saving the World: A Novel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/b\u003e 6.6 \/ \u003cb\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/b\u003e Upper Grade \/ \u003cb\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/b\u003e 22\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Julia Alvarez","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44112764174517,"sku":"9781565125582","price":11.86,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_12a10963-6ece-4bc3-bc98-f7834bc15234.jpg?v=1715053639","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/saving-the-world-9781565125582","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}