In her honest, riveting prose, Perri Klass -- writer, mother, and doctor -- takes readers through her extraordinary three years of internship and residency as a pediatrician in a Boston children's hospital. Responsible for newborns, the chronically ill, and the mysteriously sick, Klass set high standards for her own performance and for those who worked with her tiny charges. In essays and explorations on the concerns and contradictions that she faced every day, Klass reveals the fears, frustrations, and triumphs that formed her confusing life. From the difficulties of sleep deprivation to the hopelessness of treating a child with AIDS, from emergency room hysteria to intervening in cases of abuse to personal crises at home, Klass describes a trial by fire unlike any other -- a collection of experiences that changed her from a frightened, insecure medical student into a confident, caring baby doctor. "A fascinating look into the mysterious chambers of medical science . . . Compassionate and compelling." -- Boston Herald