I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The book is a good explanation for young readers about how vaccines work. It also tells about Dr. Kati Kariko.

A great book to help children understand the development of the COVID-19 vaccine and the important research process that goes into making vaccines. Kati's story is one that was overlooked during the turbulent times as politics dominated new stories, even those concerning the vaccine. This book does such a great job explaining Kati's background and her important work that led to the development of a whole new kind of vaccine.

This is a wonderful book on the history of Dr. Kati Karikó and her accomplishments with vaccines. I learned a lot as an adult! This book is intended for ages 5-10, but in my opinion might be closer to the higher end of that range. The pages have dense text and advanced vocabulary.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I read this book to my ten year old daughter who is learning about biology and cells in science class. She is going to suggest her teacher share it with her class.

This is a well written and easily understood explanation of how pioneering Hungarian scientist Kati Kariko's 40 years of investigation and work on mRNA led to the development of the life saving Covid 19 vaccine.

I didn't know the history or completely understand the science behind the vaccine, so it was interesting to me as an adult, as well.

Kati Kariko's biography is fascinating and inspiring. She overcame a lot of hardship and didn't give up on her study of mRNA, even when everyone told her she could never make a working vaccine with mRNA. She was even fired from Temple University and demoted from a faculty position at University of Pennsylvania, yet she persisted.

The book contains helpful illustrations, and supplemental material such as quotes from Kati, a timeline of Kati's life and work, steps to making a vaccine, stages vaccines must go through in the United States before being given to the public, a note from the author, a glossary, source notes, and suggested resources for further study.

There is a lot of knowledge and inspiration packed into this 48 page book. Highly recommended for fourth through sixth grade students.

This was a must-read for me, as I have been grateful for and fascinated by the progress of the mRNA technology that led to a COVID-19 vaccine. I am eager to include this in my collection because of the portrayal of a woman in STEM who perservered, and was able to identify a new way to fight this novel virus.

I highly recommend this for all schools and libraries.

This was FASCINATING. I learned SO MUCH. And I think EVERY school and classroom should have this book! It's so informative and so interesting to learn about not only an incredible woman in STEM, but also just vaccines and medicine in general.

This woman deserves at least 32 different medals and we should all know her name. I hope with this book, more people finally do.

This is a detailed picture book about the life of a scientist whose work many people have benefited from without knowing it (me included until now). This book takes us from Kati's childhood in Hugary to the 2020's. It shows how one scientist with a vision can make a big impact. Kati could have given up on her vision many times over the course of years, but instead she kept trying new idea after new idea until finally one idea worked. Now, we have mRNA vaccines because of her efforts.

Never Give Up chronicles the life to date of scientist Dr. Kati Karikó, who gained international fame in recent years for her work that led to the creation of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. The story is certainly inspiring, and I am sure many readers join me in being grateful for Dr. Karikó's and Dr. Weissman's (her collaborator) work.

This book received many positive reviews from large publications, but I have trouble seeing its selling point and potential for longevity in my library's biography collection. I think that a child would find the details of the book a bit boring and irrelevant to their lives. I don't want to diminish Dr. Karikó's accomplishments in any way, but I am just centering what I think are the interests and preferences of the readers in my library.

Very interesting to learn about how mRNA vaccines were created and that the process was started by a woman. Very relevant to today's times!

We’re entering an era where the beginning of COVID-19 is actually a part of history, which feels incredibly weird to me. Nevertheless, it’s clear that the world’s success in overcoming the dangerous beginning stages of the virus was in motion long before the virus showed up. In Never Give Up by Debbie Dadey, illustrated by Juliana Oakley (Millbrook Press, 2023), we learn just how years of development led to the rapid testing and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine.


The subtitle of this biographical picture book is Dr. Kati Kariko and the Race for the Future of Vaccines, and it tells the story of a determined woman who had an idea and sought to make it work. Kati’s story begins in a small one-roomed home in Hungary, and brings her into the lab developing the COVID-19 vaccine, to her success (obviously!).

But her story is not a simple A-Z journey. Rather, during the 1980s and 1990s, she consistently faced pressures to abandon her idea. She was even demoted from a university assistant professor back to researcher, due to her refusal to abandon her idea of using mRNA to develop a vaccine. Because she began working on these ideas and developing a basic mRNA vaccine for flu, when the call for a COVID-19 vaccine appeared, her company was better prepared to develop and produce a vaccine in a timely manner.

As we all know, the vaccine was developed, tested, and approved in 10 months, instead of years. What a blessing to so many people. Dr. Kati Kariko’s dedication to her scientific ideas has saved many, and I’m personally grateful for her perseverance.

I will admit that I am not clear on the the specifics of how an mRNA vaccine works, although my high school has done an extensive research paper on mRNA so he got it right away. I understand the basics, and this picture did a good job of not overwhelming the young reader with the science. In general, it matched the audience very well. I love that the end matter included a timeline of Kati’s life and the vaccine development, stages and information about vaccines, a glossary of scientific terms, source notes, and a long list for further study, which includes videos and picture books just right for the elementary and middle grade audience.

Everything about this book provides a great introduction to one of the heroes of the COVID-19 crisis, and is a valuable and important contribution to children’s picture books. Home school parents could use Never Give Up as a part of science unit about cells, DNA, vaccines, and other essential microbiological concepts.

I received a digital review copy of Never Give Up.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lerner Publishing for the ARC of this!

This was interesting and easy to follow for my six year old. I didn’t know much about mRNA vaccines, so even I enjoyed learning a lot. The illustrations were nice.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free copy for review.

4.5 stars. This is for all ages. I, and adult, learned so many new things about the creator of the mRNA COVID vaccine. It was easy to read, the pictures did not distract from the story, and it included quotes from various contemporaries.

This book offers an interesting insight into the brains behind the COVID vaccines and provides a brief but thorough backstory on Dr. Kariko. I enjoyed the quotes scattered throughout the book, as well as the glossary and "Steps to Making a Vaccine" section. The science concepts may still be a bit too complex for young readers, but this book would make a good read-aloud in the classroom or at home.

Picture books are so helpful to learn new concepts in simpler terms. Never Give Up tells the story of Katalin "Kati" Kariko, who stayed curious and worked for decades to make mRNA vaccines work -- just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic. The illustrations help explain the science behind vaccines, and the timeline at the end of the book gives just the right amount of extra information. I especially liked the quotes included on a few pages throughout the book!

Never Give Up: Dr. Kati Kariko and the Race for the Future of Vaccines by Debbie Dadey

Never Give Up is about Kati Kariko and her passion for researching mRNA and its potential uses in vaccines. She was interested in science from a young age and ended up going to competitions while in school. She went on to get a doctorate and continued her research. Many of the other scientists thought she was crazy and that using mRNA couldn’t be done. Eventually she found the way to accomplish her goal and it ended up helping create the COVID-19 vaccine! I really enjoyed this book. I liked that it explained things thoroughly but in an easy enough way to understand. It also included a time-line of her life and a glossary. The illustrations were nice too! Dr. Kati is a true inspiration for anyone looking to get into science or for anyone who has a dream. The book also had inspirational quotes by Dr. Kati.

Thank you NetGalley, Debbie Dadey, and Millbrook Press for allowing me to read this advanced copy of Never Give Up! I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in science.

Never Give Up follows the life of Dr. Kati Kariko and her research with mRNA. She was born in Hungary and later moved to the US to work at Temple University. Her work and that of a colleague was vital in the development of Moderna and Phizer's COVID-19 vaccine. She is still alive today and continues to work on the science of mRNA and vaccine development.

This book is written at around a fourth grade reading level. Though it is a picture book, it is very wordy and has a lot of new vocabulary words for some kids that are science based. Kids younger than that could learn from it but would benefit from simplifying the language and/or lots of adult explanation.

This is a great book about following your dreams! It is also timely, coming after the Covid 19 pandemic. I think this would be a great read aloud for elementary and middle school students. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

This biography of scientist Kati Kariko emphasizes her perseverance and dedication in the search for a way to perfect mRNA vaccines. After 40 years of hard work she and a colleague succeeded. The book is clearly written and interesting and includes helpful quotes from Dr. Kariko as well as supportive illustrations and explanations. Back matter also includes Steps in Making a Vaccine, Stages All vaccines Must Go through Before They are Given to the Public, an Author's Note, and a glossary. This is very helpful in adding addition information. Young readers can learn a great deal about how scientists work from this well-crafted book

I have added this book to my TrueStory Bookshop and recommend it in three categories:
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Scientists
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Experiences & Contributions of Immigrants
Picture-Book Biographies ~ Women’s History
https://bookshop.org/shop/KarlinGray

Enjoyed this book. I read it with kids. Now they have new vocabulary of DNA, mRNA. They understood that Dr Kati was following her dreams when she chose the science camp over a water park vacation. We saw that for work of her life that could save millions, she has moved to far off places. It is amazing that even through marathon, she would work through research. It shows her "Never Give Up" attitude through all the troubles of lack of support for her work as well as sustained curiosity. Great way of letting the people know of the effort that goes into life saving technologies.