Fred & Marjorie: A Doctor, a Dog, and the Discovery of Insulin by Deborah Kerbel and illustrated by Angela Poon is a graphic novel that is based on the true events that lead to the discovery that would easily save over 100 million people: insulin.
There is simple text showing the events of the early 1920s that made it possible to treat type 1 diabetes, or Juvenile diabetes. There are the images that show that before the early 1920s the treatment was starvation and therefore, the only result would be death. But on doctor decided that there had to be another way. By studying what he could, convincing people to give him a chance at research (an area he had little to no experience in), and finally with the help of a few others, he would learn how insulin could be used.
The art of Poon is simple, but expressive. There are two sets of images that might be difficult to see (the children dying and the use of dogs in the experiments) but they are tastefully done. The colors are soft, but still let you see the action, and the details are minimal but what is needed to get the message to you. There is a lot to read in the text and to read in the illustrations.
If you are not pro-animal research, this will be disturbing. There is an afterwards that speaks to this. In fact, there are afterwards that help tie things together. Such as actual photographs of the people and a dog that was used.
Perhaps my favorite part of the book is that Frederick Banting wanted the dogs to be documented during a photo shoot that was done. He felt that the dogs were as important to the research as he was. This shows a lot of the character of Banting.
The picture book graphic novel format my turn off the older reader, but ages 8 to 13 could enjoy this book.