Caroline "Carol" Grace Buck was born in 1920 to the parents of Pearl and John Buck. When Carol was only an hour old, Pearl looked into her bright blue eyes and could tell that she was going to be a very intelligent young lady some day. Weighing sevens pounds, eight ounces, Carol came across as healthy. No one expected the mental disabilities that the child would face due to the inability to metabolize the amino acid, Phenylalanine. When Carol turned three, it was becoming clear that she was not developing at the normal rate. Carol was the taken from China to Minnesota in the United States for further examination. The doctors discovered that Carol's mind had stopped growing. Pearl then took Carol back to China with her. Pearl began to educate Carol as a method of comforting herself because she wanted to know whether Carol was capable of learning. Pearl began to teach Carol to read and write and to distinguish colors, read musical notes and to sing. Carol eventually learned how to write her own name, sing simple songs, and read very simple sentences. During this time, Pearl kept Carol hidden from the world. The most she would reveal was that she had "two little daughters. One is away at school and one ... is at home with us" (Pearl S. Buck). In September of 1950, the piece The Child Who Never Grew was published in book format after being published in "The Lady's Home Journal" in the May of 1950. The piece was about a mother struggling to accept her imperfect daughter. In 1973, Pearl's adopted daughter, Janice, becomes Carol's legal guardian. In the 1950s, Phenylketonuria (PKU) was discovered by a Norwegian physician and biochemist. Carol was diagnosed with PKU while in her 30s. A change in diet could help a patient with the disease possibly develop normally, but Carol was already too old for a change in her diet to help. In 1991, Carol Buck, like her mother, was diagnosed with lung cancer. After several operations and chemotherapy, Carol died in her sleep from the lung cancer on September 30, 1992. For over sixty years of her life Carol lived in a home that helped the mentally disabled. Over her lifetime "The Child Who Never Grew" learned how to operate her radio and phonograph, hum along to songs, tie her shoes, roller skate, shoot baskets in basketball, run in the special Olympics, comb her hair, brush her teeth, ride her tricycle, bathe and dress herself, and several more tasks that were completely unexpected for Carol to be able to preform.