The Radium Girls: The Scary But True Story of the Poison That Made People Glow in the Dark by Kate Moore

The Radium Girls: The Scary But True Story of the Poison That Made People Glow in the Dark Reviews

• 
  Darla

  The light of justice flooded in. The truth, after all these years, was finally out.
  
  We wear lead aprons during X-rays to protect vulnerable organs from radiation. The research done in the 50's on the effects the Radium Girls suffered brought this about. In many ways, the sacrifices of these young women paved the way for safety in scientific discoveries for decades. I read the original version of this book years ago for a book group and was struck by the tragedies the families had to deal with and the callousness of the companies they worked for. I am so glad this story has been released in a Young Reader's Edition so more people can learn their story. The timeline in the back of the book puts it in perspective. The first girl (Mollie Maggie) died in 1922. It wasn't until 1938 when Catherine Donohue died that authorities finally admitted on the death certificate that her job lead to her death. Even though this book is filled with tragedy and suffering, there is also the light of justice and the hope that the young women displayed in fighting for that justice. The love of their families also shines through. Highly recommended.
  
  Thank you to Sourcebooks Explore and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.
  
• 
  Briar's Reviews

  This story is heartbreaking yet so intriguing to read. History is dark and scary and this only proves it. Women doing their jobs to the best of their ability lost their jaws, their health and their life. It's brutal and scary!
  
  This story is important to tell. I can't express it enough how insanely important it is to learn about these stories and learn from their mistakes. These women died but they don't need to die in vain. We need to learn to take care of each other and be as ethical as we can. Because, man... this book hurt. These excited young women just doing their best...
  
  The scientific discoveries, the law suits, the fight to make sure radium poisoning was understood.... This book is one for the ages.
  
  I haven't read the original YA Radium Girls, but this take was high on my radar because of the original. I can't tell if it holds up or if it's any better, but this book as a singular work is great! It's a long book for young readers though, just be aware.
  
  Five out of five stars.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and SourceBooks for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.
• 
  Alicia

  I was excited to see what if anything they would change about the adult title to adapt it for the younger audience. It's still sizeable and the copious research and depth of information is still resonant just like it was in the adult title except the readability allows it to flow for a younger audience. I thought (based on the adapted cover) that it might include graphics interspersed and while it doesn't, it still includes plenty of photographs though in the digital ARC they're small so might be a little larger in print.
  
  I thought the story which focused on a few of the important women in the case made it easier to follow but the jumping to different times and locations, unless they're paying attention, which they should based on the headers, might be a bit confusing (especially the non-linear timeline). Yet, when all is said and done, the flagrant horrible men running the corporation and their willingness to disregard these women's lives as "for the cause" stands out pretty clear. The court cases demonstrate that. So many comparisons can be made to contemporary violations but also social justice.
  
  It's a call to arms to always be vigilant and that businesses don't always have their employees or their patrons' best interests at heart.
• 
  Rebecca

  I recieved an ARC of this book from Edelweiss+ in return for a review. I have been wanting to read about The Radium Girls since it was a Lincoln Award nominee last year, so when I saw that the Young Reader's Edition was available as an ARC, I jumped at the chance to read it.
  
  This story drew me in from the beginning. I wanted to know more about their story. I don't read many non-fiction title, but this kept me coming back.
  
  Highly recommend. I can't wait to book talk this in the fall.
• 
  Sam

  Huge thank you to Raincoast for this ARC!
  
  I have been enjoying Young Reader's editions of books as of late, if only because I am curious as to how an author transplants their content for a different age group. Radium Girls by Kate Moore was a very important and difficult book when it released in 2017, and I won't lie when I was confused to have received a copy of a Young Readers edition for it in my mailbox. I never had the chance to read the original book, so I gave this version a go.
  
  This is an amazing work on non-fiction that looks at the dial painters, all who were infected with radium, and were slowly transforming or dying because of it. It looks at the work conditions the women faced, as well as the court cases. Many of the women in this book died at very young ages due to radium poisoning, and it took many years later for legal action to have occurred. This YRE does an amazing job of telling the story of these women without dumbing it down or talking down at the reader. The language is very clear and direct, while also evoking a lot of empathy for women who lost their lives.
  
  This book is gripping from the first page, and what happened to these women is horrific and unacceptable. The fact that there is still radium clean-up in this day and age in Ottawa, IL is problematic in itself. This book is uncomfortable, dark, and a little scary at times, but the information and the story being told is important and valuable. Definitely check out this book, YRE or otherwise, because the story is out of this world.
• 
  Carmen

  Heart-wrenching story. This horrific story is well-researched and well-written.
• 
  Ashley

  FS: “The scientist had forgotten all about the radium.”
  
  LS: “Luminous Processes," declared the local paper, "seems to put profits before people." How quickly we forget.”
  
  Chapters: 50
  
  Bookly
  
  Library
• 
  Cherlynn | cherreading

  4.5⭐
  
  This was a highly engrossing read that I didn't want to put down. In fact, I was so absorbed by the book that I missed my bus stop. My heart broke for everything the Radium Girls went through and multiple times I found myself tearing up at the lifelong suffering and injustice they faced. Their extraordinary strength, courage and spirit moved me deeply.
  
  I often feel conflicted when it comes to non-fiction books like this because on one hand, the dramatised writing and language makes for a very compelling and emotional read. At the same time, I prefer non-fiction books to give a more balanced and factual account instead of bringing in personal biases. Hmmm...
  
  Nevertheless, this is an incredible, powerful and haunting read that I would highly recommend!
• 
  Becky

  First sentence: The scientist had forgotten all about the radium. It was tucked within his waistcoat pocket, enclosed in a slim glass tube in such a small quantity that he could not feel its weight. He had a lecture to give in London, England, and the vial of radium stayed within that shadowy pocket throughout his journey across the sea.
  
  Premise/plot: The Radium Girls is nonfiction; it is a narrative account of the 'radium girls'--the women employed as dial painters whose exposure to radium (radium-based paint to be exact) proved costly and deadly. It is an account of the long, long, long, long BATTLE (yes, battle) for justice to be done.
  
  There were several plants--or factories if you prefer--that employed women as dial painters. This is narrative focuses on three of them; readers are introduced to dozens of women; I wouldn't be surprised if it tells the story of three to four dozen women at least.
  
  The story begins in 1917 in New Jersey and concludes (well, mainly concludes) in Illinois circa 1938.
  
  My thoughts: I read the adult version of The Radium Girls (2017) last spring. I absolutely loved it. I had initially picked it up because of the new movie of the same title. After rewatching the movie a few months ago, I wanted to read the young readers' edition. (I had review copies of both the adult and young readers version.) I will only add that reading the book is a thousand times better than watching the movie. And I loved the movie--I did. But it's like three percent of the story. It is such a fracture of the story that could be told. So I highly recommend either edition. (There's about a hundred page difference.)
  
  The Radium Girls was a POWERFUL read that resonated with me from start to finish. I am so thankful that I finally got around to reading it. If you've been meaning to read it too but have been putting it off, then I encourage you to give it a chance.
  
  I loved that it was a PERSONAL read. The women aren't mere numbers or statistics. Their lives AND their deaths had meaning; and as I believe it is mentioned either in the movie or the book their bones still are speaking to us. Even those whose voices were never "heard" in life--due to injustice and indifference--can be heard now and for the next thousand plus years. The narrative's greatest strength is that it focuses on the personal, the intimate, the real.
  
  The read was both FASCINATING and DEVASTATING. It is hard to imagine today that no one wouldn't know that radium was DANGEROUS and to be radioactive is a BAD, BAD thing. But so much of the book focuses on this struggle between those that put MONEY, MONEY, MONEY first and foremost and those that valued HUMAN LIVES and HUMAN DIGNITY over profit, wealth, fame.
  
  I was shocked--should I have been shocked???--at the out and out LYING and CORRUPTION. The doctors that were being paid/employed by the factories could run all their tests, do their examinations, and then say YES, YOU ARE 100% HEALTHY. NO PROBLEMS. All the while, your teeth are falling out, your face is swollen, you can hardly stand up straight, you're losing weight. Sounds like the perfect state of health, right?! In other words a lot of GASLIGHTING going on. But that isn't being fair. Not all doctors said the women were in 100% health--the best state of health they could ever be in. Some were for team misdiagnosis. Like let's diagnose you with SYPHILIS. Because that will make you quiet for sure--if you believe it. Who wants to be known to be dying from that!
  
  But I was also encouraged by those that stood up to the big guys--the giants--and faced near impossible odds. It wasn't easy for the lawyers to take on, take up, this GIGANTIC mess of a case.
  
  I was surprised by the resilience and attitude of some of the women. Some relied on GOD and turned to prayer and other spiritual disciplines for support, comfort, peace. Others relied more on FAMILY and FRIENDS for comfort, support, guidance. While the book mentions a few women's nerves or state of mind seemed to be negatively effected by the diagnosis, I was surprised it wasn't more. It couldn't be *easy* on one's mental health to be diagnosed with a FATAL DISEASE with NO CURE and little proven treatment. The strength and courage it would take to face each and every day is not to be discounted. We're talking tremendous physical pain with no hope of relief. Not really. Every day would be a choice--to despair or to cling to hope.
  
  It's impossible to read this novel and not turn introspective. WHY DO I COMPLAIN SO MUCH?
• 
  Makenna 💋

  this book sucks booty. Never read it. Especially if you have to read it in 10 days exactly. I have to confess I probably skipped about half of this book. And it still made sense. Now that means it’s a poopy book. 💀💀
• 
  Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book*

  The Radium Girls: young reader’s edition by Kate Moore, 432 pages. Sourcebooks Explore, SEPT 2020. $11. 9781728209470
  
  Content: PG (descriptions of the women’s injuries)
  
  BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL
  
  AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
  
  In the early years of the 1900’s radium was considered a wonder drug – capable of healing all ills. Plus it was delightfully luminescent, its glow-in-the-dark qualities perfect for the watches and dials of the pilots and fighters during WWI. The women in the dial-painting studio pointed their brushed by licking the bristles before each stroke. Plus the glowing powder was so much fun – they would paint their faces and bodies to make pantomimes. What they didn’t know, what America didn’t know is that radium was also a secret killer – the effects being held at bay for years before unleashing their fury. It would take many years, many deaths and the perseverance of many women to finally win this fight – not just once but several times, before the public, the world, would acknowledge the dangers and take steps to protect the future.
  
  As seminal and detailed Moore’s book is about this important, and little known chapter in world history, that detail and length will work against it being popular in school libraries. Unless you have a teacher who will champion it as an optional read for an American History or science class, you will have a hard time finding many readers. This is a good candidate for a purchase as an ebook in a shared account.
  
  Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS
  
  https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2020...
• 
  Christine

  I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.
  
  The Radium Girls: The Scary But True Story of the Poison That Made People Glow in the Dark was adapted for younger readers by Kate Moore from her bestselling novel The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women.
  
  It tells the story of the wonder drug of the early 1900s, radium. It was thought to cure illnesses, and its luminescent properties made it ideal for glow-in-the-dark watches and for dials and instruments of pilots during WWI. To paint these devices, women would lick the brushes, dip them into the radium, paint, then repeat. The women did not know they were becoming sick with radium poisoning. Some did not show symptoms until years after they stopped working with the radium.
  
  If you read the original version, you know it is detailed and includes timelines of multiple people. The version for a younger audience is written with age-appropriate content, but it is still incredibly detailed and more than 400 pages. The story shows these women as individuals, showing their separate lives, but also the strong, tight-knit group who fought for themselves and to ensure workplace safety for all.
  
  This book is perfect for assigned reading for history or science classes.
  
  This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/1/20.
• 
  June

  This is an incredibly moving true story of young female workers being asked to do a poisonous job (even though scientists had some inkling it was dangerous), and the attempts to discredit the sick and dying women. This is a young reader edition aimed at ages 8-12, and it's still pretty gruesome. Some students could handle this with no problem; others might find it too upsetting. It is an interesting bridge between science and reading, though.
  
  Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.
• 
  Rebecca

  I still think it's odd how hard the young readers version tries to frame this as an uplifting, empowering story. It's unquestionably an important one, so trust the readers to take from it what they can handle.
• 
  Andréa

  Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
• 
  Jenny

  This story is incredible on many levels. This is my first young readers version of a book and I am a fan.
• 
  Callie Gonsalves

  3.75-4
• 
  Lauren Evans

  The Society of the Living Dead, women that glow in the dark, and jaw bones breaking off mid conversation. Sounds like a fiction novel, right?? Unfortunately, no. Kate Moore told the horrifying, heartbreaking, and inspiring stories of The Radium Girls.
  
  Before picking this one up I’d heard a little about the use of radium and how it impacted a group of young women, but this book talked about so much I’d never heard of. What happened to these women and how they were treated by the company they worked for and the medical professionals they went to for help is infuriating.
  
  All through their careers as dial painters the girls were encouraged the lip point - placing the paintbrush between their lips after applying the radium paint to the bristles - in order to paint precise lines on the dial faces. They were told time and time again that the radium was no danger to them.
  
  This book does a really good job of telling the personal stories of many of the girls while also explaining the medical and legal struggles they faced. The way their stories were told made me feel like I was getting to know each of them as the book progressed which, no doubt, helped me root for them the whole way through.
  
  We owe so much of what we’ve learned about radium and its effect on the human body to these girls and the horrors they had to endure. We also owe our right to health and safety in the workplace to their long and difficult fight against the company that had employed them. Despite their health getting progressively worse and seeing many previously unsuccessful lawsuits, the girls kept fighting in order to hold the company accountable.
  
  This was heavy, but it’s so important. Reading about this makes me equally sad and angry knowing it actually happened, but we can’t forget these girls and their history, OUR history, because we can’t let it repeat itself. So if you can stomach it, read this book.
• 
  Sheri

  I grabbed this for my daughter after I saw it profiled on Mighty Girls. At first she had a hard time reading it because she said it was sad, but it was intriguing to her, so she kept going. She said it got a bit confusing keeping the girls’s stories straight because of how many were discussed, but really they all had the same fate so it didn’t hinder her understanding. There are some tough descriptions to get through (jawbones falling out, amputations, puss-filled wounds), but it’s not too graphic. It’s a good lesson on corporate greed and this country’s history of valuing money and corporations over workers’ health and livelihoods, including an infuriating point that the USDA didn’t get involved until a wealthy man died from radium poisoning—although it was a subtle point—I think the author could have developed this further. I was a bit put-off by the physical description of the “girls” (really women) and how pretty they were but perhaps the author was trying to write in the style of the times. Overall, an interesting non-fiction read and important historical knowledge.
• 
  Rhonda A.

  This is a story that will stay with me for some time. The Radium Girls were treated so poorly and yet they fought till the bitter end.
  I didn’t know anything about their story, but so glad I happened to see this book in a bookstore and bought it… this is a book we should all read. It’s a powerful and very emotional story. I, for one, have immense respect for the dial painters and undying sympathy for what they had to endure.
  
• 
  Eden

  2022 bk 236. One of the saddest books I've read. The story of these young girls who were lured with promises of good paying jobs to paint dials and ended up on the List of Doom is so sad. And what makes it sadder is after the lawsuits, the deaths from the late 1918's, a company actually started doing the same thing in the 1970's not too horribly far from me. ARGH! Well done book, masterful job of putting together primary documents, use of interviews, and a way of making legalese interesting.
• 
  Dani Jenkins

  The subject matter is close to my heart as a radiation worker myself. These girls fought and died in the process of forcing companies and the US to recognize the dangers of radium poisoning. We can all thank the radium girls for their help in the study of radiation effects on the body.
• 
  Brittany Darty

  This book is important part of our history and everyone should read it. These women did so much for us and they paid their life for it. It is painstakingly heartbreaking and equally infuriating. A must read!
• 
  Mrs. Stein

  Oh.my.gosh. Horrifying. Enraging.
  Well-told.
  Such courage and heroism.
• 
  Mollie Book

  Such a great nonfiction book to teach to middle schoolers! They loved it and it has provided fantastic material for a writing unit.
• 
  Toby Abrahamsen

  Wow. I can see why my students keep checking this out
• 
  Tiffany

  Absolutely loved it! I didn't realize I borrowed the young reader's edition on Libby, but I'm happy I did. It made it easier to read such a sad story.
  
  I would read again.
• 
  Sandy

  I have already read the adult version of this book, so when our book club decided that The Radium Girls was going to be this month’s selection, I opted to read the young readers version of the story. I was anxious to read this book as I read lots of books geared towards young readers and I hoped this one was as great as the adult version. I had hoped that they hadn’t taken this incredible story, watered it down and condensed it. Had they changed the storyline and make it more reserved for these young minds? This book really surprised me as I began reading.
  
  This was fantastic! This book was condensed but the author had not watered it down. This was as great as the adult version only; it didn’t go into as much detail as the adult’s version. It had been a few years since I have read the adult version but it all came back to me as I began reading and I fell in love with it all over again.
  
  Filled with hope and opportunity the girls began working at the watch dial factory. They were teenage girls, working with the “wonder element,” the miracle wonder that was treating cancer and helping with other illnesses. This “liquid sunshine” was incorporated into toothpaste, butter, and skin products as everyone wanted to benefit from its greatness yet only wealthy could afford to indulge in these. Radium, the glow-in-the-dark paint, was expensive in the late 1910’s.
  
  Working in the factory, the girls sat and they painted. Holding watch faces, the girls manually painted the watch dials onto each one. It was delicate work that relied on a steady hand and the perfect tool. With the factory suppling the brushes, the girls took their brushes and created the perfect tool.
  
  Lip-dip-paint. The girls did lip pointing as they painted their watch dials. Since the girls were paid based on the number of dials they painted, they needed to work quickly and efficient. By wetting the end of the brush in their mouths to make a tapered end, this technique made their jobs easier. Lip-dip-paint. There would be no rinsing of the brush between each dial, there was only a minimal amount of radium on the brush at all times while she painted, and she had been told that the radium was safe. She was set to make millions, right? It sounds right but these girls were doing this every day, all day, and the number of times that her brush touched their lips each day was high, for she painted hundreds of dials each day.
  
  It wasn’t until years later, that things started to change for the girls and they started to realize that perhaps this “liquid sunshine” wasn’t as safe as they were led to believe. I marveled at how this book didn’t shy away from the facts. The trips to the dentist had me squirming in my chair. I’m not fond of dentists but they had to go. Their pain was so bad but their diagnose was worse than cavities. The girls had enjoyed working in the factory, they’d made lots of cash and enjoyed their new lifestyle but now, was it worth it?
  
  As more girls were getting sick, more individuals were getting involved and it irritated me that no one was working together to solve the issues. Hired individuals, doctors, lawyers, family members, everyone was a witness but what was the cause? How can they move forward?
  
  This book is not for the weak, as the author tells it like it was. As I thought about what these girls had to endure, it made me cringe. The pain, the frustration, and the emptiness they must have felt, had to be exhausting. It’s sad and horrific that the girls had to battle this. To have to fight for their lives and also for support. That’s so frustrating. These girls are heroes for what they went through and how they shaped our future. I’m glad that this book was written for young readers so they can read how these young women fought for others and themselves. They weren’t quitters, whinners, or looking for a handout- they did it by believing in themselves and moving forward. A great book that should be read by mature young readers (middle school).
  
  "After her jaw was gone, an important discovery was made. Knef had always hoped that by removing a tooth or a piece of infected bone, the progress of the mysterious disease would be stopped. "
  
  "Her mouth, emoty of teeth, empty of jawbone, empty of words, filled with red, hot blood instead. It spilled over her lips and down her stricken, shaken face."