Radium girls book review8/9/2023 ![]() ![]() Moore goes to great pains to allow us to know these young girls. The first main section, Knowledge, begins in New Jersey in 1917 and introduces us to the players, the individual dial painters. With it one gets a taste of Moore's wonderful writing style and an idea of the tragic events about to befall those working with the element. The prologue sets the stage with the riveting story of the first known death by radioactivity from radium. Moore has divided the book into three primary sections in addition to a prologue, an epilogue and a postscript. A complete bibliography is included along with some 50 pages of notes arranged by chapter. It is a rare history book that brings you into the action. Because of this thoroughness and attention to detail, you feel the intense suffering, experience the excruciating losses and revel in the triumphs of the dial painters. She has delved deeply into the lives of the dial painters and has written a very thorough historical account of the dial painting industry. Kate Moore's writing style is easy, clear and enjoyable. As sad and depressing as the lives and times of the dial painters were, it is equally important to understand the full narrative. The Radium Girls chronicles the dial painting industry and the women who painted these dials with radium–based paint. Reviewed by Lyle Sadavoy, Toronto, Ontario Also recommend to students who like to be grossed out!Īnything you didn’t like about it? I think some students will be put off by the length and others may be disgusted by the details about body parts, teeth and jawbones falling out.By Kate Moore, 2017, 477 pages, paperback, ISBN 978-1-4926-5095-9 $17.99 USD To whom would you recommend this book? Students who are interested in learning more about the heroes who made today’s worker safety laws possible will be drawn to this book. Includes a timeline, a glossary, notes, and a bibliography. ![]() ![]() Readers should be warned that some of the content is highly disgusting and should not be read while eating food this will likely make kids want to read it even more. This thrilling young readers’ edition is an essential purchase for all middle school and high school libraries. The Radium Girls are presented as heroes for their unwavering demand for justice in spite of their physical limitations brought about by their exposure. The thrilling courtroom fights that followed resulted in some of the first successful lawsuits brought against American companies for harming their employees, saved countless lives, and eventually resulted in the creation of OSHA. The story follows women from two factories - one in Orange, NJ and one in Ottawa, IL and the many ways the companies lied from straight up obfuscation to hiring a “doctor” (who only had his doctorate in philosophy) to examine the girls and deem them healthy. Gruesome black and white images accompany the text. Kate Moore lays out in great detail how dial painters were physically affected by the radium that entered their bodies - teeth falling out, jaws disintegrating, huge sarcomas growing on limbs and even on the face of one girl, etc. Dial painters used radium to paint war equipment so it would glow in the dark they commonly used a method called “lip, dip, and paint” wherein they put the brush in their mouth to get a fine tip, dipped it in the radium, painted and then repeated the process. ![]() Only wealthy people had access to radium, however…and the female dial-painters who ended up suffering the most for their exposure. It was expensive and considered beautifully luminous. It was called “liquid sunshine” and was used in food products, cosmetics, and more. When radium was discovered, it was thought by many to be a miracle chemical. What seemed like an amazing opportunity for young women in the early 1900s - making good money for an independent job – turned into a death sentence for many of the women. What did you like about the book? If this weren’t a true story it would definitely be shelved in the Horror section of my library. Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5 The Radium Girls: Young Readers’ Edition: The scary but true story of the Poison that made people Glow in the dark – Kate Moore, Sourcebooks (9781728210346), 2020 ![]()
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