Masked Hero: How Wu Lien-Teh Invented the Mask That Ended an Epidemic
by Shan Woo Liu (Author) Lisa Wee (Illustrator)
Meet Dr. Wu Lien-teh, defeater of the Manchurian plague—in a story authored by his great-granddaughter, an emergency physician who relied on his life-saving invention during a pandemic a century later.
More than a hundred years before Covid, a deadly pneumonic plague threatened to sweep through Northeast China. Medical experts were summoned to help contain it—among them Wu Lien-teh, who had overcome hurdles to be a doctor since his boyhood in Malaysia. Unlike others, Dr. Wu deduced the disease was spread through airborne bacteria and advocated for quarantines and other measures familiar to readers today, including the use of a face covering he designed from layers of cloth and gauze: the first version of the N95 mask.
Wu Lien-teh faced ridicule and discrimination, but his trailblazing methods prevailed: the 1910 Manchurian plague was vanquished in four months, and his invention continues to keep us safe now. Masked Hero, written by Dr. Wu Lien-teh’s great-granddaughter Shan Woo Liu and charmingly illustrated by Lisa Wee, celebrates the little-known history of the N95 mask and the hero who first devised it. Back matter, including an author’s note and a time line, sheds further light on the ever-relevant past, encouraging budding scientists to think bravely—and remember the small acts we all can perform to keep our communities safe.
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This picture-book biography showcases a significant, lesser-known East Asian scientist/physician.
Kirkus
Chockablock with timely themes and connections to recent world-shaking events.
Publishers Weekly
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. A scene-setting beginning locates the story in 19th-century British colony Malaya, where Lien-teh dreams of becoming a doctor and uses what's on hand to build makeshift sports equipment at school. He wins a scholarship that takes him to the University of Cambridge; subsequently, the doctor lands in China after facing discrimination as a person of Chinese descent. 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." Plain-spoken narration focuses on the chronology of Lien-teh's life and accomplishments. Wee's mild paintings accompany flat, unadorned backdrops against which the "masked hero" is depicted at work. A timeline and author's note conclude. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Review quotes
This smoothly written picture book—written by Wu's great-granddaughter, an American doctor, and inspired by her daughter's first-grade writing assignment—introduces a heroic researcher whose practical approach to disease prevention saved many lives, notably during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Wee's pleasing digital art illustrates the story within effective period settings. This picture-book biography showcases a significant, lesser-known East Asian scientist/physician.
—Booklist
JNF061010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Technology | Inventions
JNF024020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Health & Daily Living | Diseases, Illnesses & Injuries
