Radium Girls: Summary & Review

From Goodreads

Kate Moore’s account of the suffering of the dial painters in both Ottawa, IL and Orange, NJ is told in a colorful language with descriptive terms. The story of the Radium Girls from both plants is painted in deep strokes covering the many years of suffering which could have been prevented if only the radium companies would have acknowledged the dangers or the miracle “drug” radium.

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women begins with the glowing new future the many young women found working for Radium Dial or United Radium. Moore’s story is framed with death, yet there is hope shone throughout by the girls that salvation would come. Each suffers from their own kind of darkness, even in the midst of their glowing lives. Moore’s account of these tragic lives gives light to a situation which was hidden from many, even the women themselves. Each story is sad with others worse than some but all having the same end, death. The girls became known as the living dead because of their fatal condition. Each woman hoped for a cure but also knew none would come.

Dial Painting

By the end of this book, I felt that I knew each of these women, partially because I am close to the same age as many of the women when the symptoms first occurred. Reading the book showed a dark era for America, even though a war had just been won and radium was raising the economy it was not to last. The story is recounted as if one is sitting listening to the tragedy unfold before one as a play (the book is influenced by one, check the Acknowledgements, pg. 405). Each of the main girls becomes a living ghost with the reader, I was often moved by their resolve to continue. If not for some of the women standing up for themselves they would never have received justice because of the denial of not only the company but the doctors, their friends, and scientist that radium was the cause. Kate Moore details the legal struggles the women went through simply to gain this justice and a bit of money to pay for their care as the radium ravaged their bodies, many died while in the midst of this fight. Reading the scenes from court brings anger and a desire for justice.

Marie Rossiter (Left), Catherine Donohoe (Center), and Charlotte Purcell (Right)

This book is a must read for those interested in learning the history of American industry and for anyone who enjoys learning of perseverance in the face of struggle. The many thousands of women depicted now have a voice and a memorial which will not be forgotten as the world moves on. Their lives led to the creation of many protections for workers, as well as scientists who work with radium, or other radioactive substances. The sad end which Moore shares for each of the girls did eventually come to light, even those who were denied justice being misdiagnosed in life. Moore includes images of the main women in her account in the center of the book, some images are even referenced in her text. In these images, they are preserved as forever young and alive untainted by the radium already present in their system. Along with the images, Moore includes her many references for each chapter at the end along with an author’s note detailing her admiration for the women and their families.

References

Moore, K. (2017). The radium girls: The dark story of America’s shining women. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Goodreads.com. (2017). The radium girls. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31409135-the-radium-girls 

Stout, S. (2010). Radium: Wonder drug to health hazard [Image of Marie, Catherine, and Charlotte]. The Times. Retrieved from http://www.mywebtimes.com/news/local/radium-wonder-drug-to-health-hazard/article_8be9d790-8321-58a2-9beb-3c66871371ac.html

Viralinside. (2017). The forgotten story of the radium girls, whose deaths saved thousands of workers’ lives [Image of Dial Painter]. Retrieved from http://viralinside.net/forgotten-story-radium-girls-whose-deaths-saved-thousands-workers-lives.html

The Girls of Atomic City: Revew/Summary

So, after reading Hidden Figures and seeing the movie I was interested in more women who helped with modern inventions and the war effort. In my search, I came across Denise Kiernan’s The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of The Women Who Helped Win World War II. If I was hoping this was anything like Hidden Figures I was sorely mistaken. While as a work of it’s own the book is delightful and well written, it read more like a history book than a biography of the women living at Site X.

Summary

Site X was founded as part of the Manhattan Project during WWII to help build “The Gadget” which would win the war. The women who lived and worked at the site lived under constant guard and supervision so as not to reveal the secret. Each of the women met in the book knew just enough to do their job, and do it well. The Project was the nation’s largest secret and also had the largest plants and buildings of any in the world, at the time. All of this happened at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The lives of the women changed the day they went to work for Clinton Engineer Works (CEW). They went from living very open lives to having secrets and not knowing who to trust. Each person on the Reservation (as Site X was also known) could be a spy and report any suspicious activity or loose tongue to the government. Life went on, apart from this secrecy, as normally as possible with the war. Kiernan shares the stories of nine women who worked at various jobs on the Reservation: Celia Szapka, Toni Peters, Jane Greer, Kattie Strickland, Virgina Spivey, Colleen Rowan, Dorthy Jones, Helen Hall, and Rosemary Maiers. These women range from a chemist to a cleaning woman, a nurse to a pipe checker. Each job was important and would bring about the goal of winning the war or at least completing The Gadget (Kiernan, 2013).

Video of the Author explaining her interest in the book

Denise Kiernan shares her interest in the Project and why she did it. The book was less interesting than this short video clip.

Review (Contains some spoilers, but most know the result of The Project and The Gadget)

As I said earlier the book was enjoyable but not what I had hoped for. While the title claims to be about “The Girls of Atomic City” I felt that I learned more about the city than the “girls.” Each of the stories is presented in a disjointed almost puzzled way making it easy to confuse which woman is which. Kiernan (2013) shares the lives of much more than the nine women mentioned in the introduction leading to confusion and no real connection with the characters. As an overview of life in Oak Ridge this is a good book to read, but for someone who wants to learn about women during WWII, it provides only surface information.

The book does give a feeling of secrecy, though if the reader examines the Principal Cast of Characters at the front of the book some of this is lost. The disjointedness may come from an attempt to create the partitioned type of lives the women lived, each woman was expected to keep work

Billboards like this were common in Oak Ridge

separate from social life or suffer consequences, which ranged from a stern talking to up to the loss of a job. The set up of the book is nice though I found the intermixed information specifically about Tubealloy or the Product to detract from the story though they added to the history. If I was only looking at a book for reading this would not be it, but because I enjoy history I was able to make it through.

Two of the most striking stories for me were not even about the women but two men. They did touch the life of Rosemary (the nurse) but other than casual meetings in the hospital she is not the main focus. The first was a young soldier who was kept apart because he knew too much but was mentally unstable (Kiernan, 2013). This story is never finished and what happened to him is a mystery. The result of the second is just mystifying, Kiernan (2013) explains that this is because of a lack of records on the second man or miscommunications. The second man was in an accident and badly injured but instead of receiving immediate medical aid was used to test the effects of The Product (plutonium). This story also had an unsatisfactory ending, and simply did not relate to the title.

For a book supposedly about the women of Oak Ridge, a surprising amount of space is occupied by men. I do not mind reading about men and know they did much but I picked this book because I thought it would be about the women helping build or work near the Gadget or its parts but was disappointed in it. However, the book is interesting and does shed some light, though limited, on the women of Atomic City.

Reference

Goodreads. (2017). The girls of Atomic City: The untold story of the women who helped win world war II [Image] Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15801668-the-girls-of-atomic-city?ac=1&from_search=true

Kiernan, D. (2013). The girls of Atomic City: The untold story of the women who helped win World War II. New York: Touchstone Books. 

Rennawarren [User name]. (2011, June 18). We interrupt this program… [Weblog comment (billboard image)]. Retrieved from https://spaceshuttleatlantislaunch.wordpress.com/2011/06/18/we-interrupt-this-program/

Simon & Schuster Books [User name]. (2013, January 14). Denise Kiernan on the girls of Atomic City [YouTube video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKYxj6n4xho

Anne of Green Gables: Blog

Anne Blog

I have recently begun watching Netflix's Original show Anne with an E and began remembering the book, this show is not for the young, but an older audience able to understand and handle the reality of the era. 

Having seen an older series series, Anne of Green Gables, I am still not thrilled by this new series (only about 3 episodes in). Anne with an E does appear to follow the book more closely, even following many of the uncomfortable content of Anne’s earlier years as a “maid” of sorts to other families.

Anne of Green Gables 

Enough about the Series, as I said I will work on a review, this post is about an old school assignment I completed for a Young Adult (YA) Literature class at SJSU. This website was created as a final project for INFO 268 in the pursuit of my MLIS.

So, on the website, I provide information about the book but that is not all, I also provide interesting background and biographical information about Anne of Green Gables.

Anne of Green Gables Website Screenshot

The blog provides a summary of the book Anne of Green Gables, along with a list of the characters present in the book. The book is actually the first in a Series about Anne of Avonlea. Under the L.M. Montgomery tab the website provides information about the author of the series.

L. M. Montgomery

The Historical/Social content explains information about when the book was set, as well as when it was written. Themes of overcoming adversity, growing up, and belonging are all discussed in brief paragraphs. The Literary Review tab has information about how Anne of Green Gables has become part of the Cannon of Sentiment. Along with sentiment, the impact of Anne globally is discussed on this page.

So, this blog post is simply about another blog I have created. To find my Anne of Green Gables website follow this link.

References

Ge, L. (2016, Jan. 12). New ‘Anne of Green Gables’ series in the works at CBC [Image]. The Wrap. Retrieved from http://www.thewrap.com/anne-of-green-gables-miniseries-in-the-works-at-cbc/

IMDb. (2017). Anne with an e [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5421602/

Martin, A. (n.d.) April Martin 268 Final [Web log, Figure 1]. Retrieved from https://martin268final.wordpress.com/

Wikipedia. (2017). Lucy Maud Montgomery [Image]. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Maud_Montgomery

Another Blog: Illustrator Study

Well for most of this month I have been tied up working on final class projects. Two were blogs and the third a paper. I will be showcasing my Illustrator Study in this post. For the study, I looked at the work of two children's book author/illustrators.

I enjoyed working on the project for my Materials for Children class (INFO 263) at San Jose State University (SJSU) where I am completing my Master of Library and Information Science. I will have the degree completed, hopefully, this coming December (2017).

Blog Homepage
Retrieved from http://2017illustratorblogmartininfo263-10.weebly.com/

The above image is the first page of my project "blog" or I should say website. I provide information abut the two authors, Jan Brett and Rober Sabuda.

Screen Shot of Comparing Illustrators

Part of the Project included comparing the two illustrators styles. For this, I created the below image comparison and chart comparing their work/influences. This information is found on the website in more detail.

The above chart shows the information from the research I completed for the website and each illustrator. I found the similarities and differences fascinating. One similar influence was both were encouraged by their moms.  

This information and more can be found on the website for those who are interested in learning more about the two illustrators. Along with information about there is a brief bibliography of works for each illustrator including books written by each.

To view the whole project you can go to:

http://2017illustratorblogmartininfo263-10.weebly.com/

This will take you to the home page of my website where you can explore the information I have collected.

This is a finished project and will not be updated.

References (for the comparion chart)

Augustine, K. (2015). Stitching with paint: Inside the world of Jan Brett. Piecework, 23(5_, 16-19. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ofm&AN=108673068&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Best Pop-Up Books. (2016). Robert Sabuda, paper magician (interview) [Header images]. Retrieved from http://www.bestpopupbooks.com/interview-robert-sabuda/

Brett, J. (2013, July 10). July 2013 hedge a gram (Web log comment) [Header image]. Retrieved from http://janbrettsblog.com/?m=201307

Brett, J. (2016, Jan. 4). January hedge a gram (Web log comment) [Header image]. Retrieved from http://janbrettsblog.com/?m=201601

Norton, D. E. (2011). Through the eyes of an artist: Robert Sabuda. In D. E. Norton (ED.), Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children’s Literature (24). Boston: Pearson.

Sabuda, R. (2017a). About Robert. Retrieved from http://wp.robertsabuda.com/about-robert/

Sabuda, R. (2017). Pop-up Questions. Retrieved from http://wp.robertsabuda.com/pop-up-questions/

Scholastic. (2017). Jan Brett & her studio [Video]. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teacher/videos/teacher-videos.htm#3295495837001/ 1288060533001

Winner, M. (Host). (2016, November 26). Robert Sabuda: All the wonders, episode 308 [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.allthewonders.com/podcasts/robert-sabuda-all-the-wonders-episode-308/  

Hidden Figures [Movie Review]

Introduction

In February, I read and reviewed the book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. The review can be read here. I truly enjoyed the book and have finally seen the movie (about a week ago) based on the same story, also titled Hidden Figures.

Review

The movie begins in 1961at the beginning of the space race when NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) becomes NASA (Nation Aeronautics and Space Administration), some years after the start of the book. This is about chapter 16 in Shetterly's book retelling the story of the "colored computers" at Langley Air Base. The movie was full of information about three of the women, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorthey Vaughan. (I explain more in-depth about them in my book review).

Readers of the book will find that the movie brings the book to life. One situation, in particular, was difficult to imagine, in which Katherine had in finding a "colored" bathroom. She is shown running across the campus carrying her stack of files and work just to simply “relieve” herself. While this was noted in the book it did not sink in until I saw the movie, nd the big scene which her boss made over here being gone for 40 minutes a day. Dorthey is seen seeking advancement which seems hindered at every turn until she looks to the future and becomes the first supervisor for the new IBM machine. Mary appears to have the easiest time, though she is the only one with a legal case to enter the all-white high school building for night classes. The movie made what these women did truly amazing, especially Katherine (who most of the movie is focused on).

Another aspect which impressed me was the way they could do math, the computers where

completing complex calculations in their heads with little assistance from machines, if they had one it was an adding machine. Catherine was shown to be faster and more reliable than the new machine. This was not lost on John Glen when needing last minute calculations done. Matt Blitz (2017) states explains that the scene with Katherine requesting to enter a briefing shows the need of many organizations of the time to break down prejudice. About Stafford’s reply to Katherine of “There’s no protocol for women attending” to which one of Johnson’s most remembered lines of “There’s no protocol for a man circling Earth either, sir.” Blitz says that it “underlines this based-on-a-true-story movie. He is sharing that the quote embodies much of what the movie is about, as well as the story. While this is monumental and easily pointed to, what caught my attention was the respect which John Glen (portrayed by Glen Powell) included the women, especially the African-Americans in the conversation. When the Mercury 7 arrived at the base for training he notices them standing apart

from the crowd and instead of leaving, as the heads want him to, he chooses to go and say hello and shake their hands (specifically Dorothy, Katherine, and Mary), something unheard of in the South at the time. White men did not speak, let alone shake hands, with African-American women, but he did. This brief scene along with a few others shows a contrast in the ideas of north and south. Not all people are bad or stuck in their ways. The movie brought these out more clearly because of the visual elements that text does not convey.

Overall, this is a beautiful example of historic biography. Many of the elements were unknown before and are brining light not only to African-American's at NASA early on but also to women who worked on the numbers. The honor given only to white men for reaching the moon truly belongs to all those who engineered, calculated, and designed during the early years at NACA and NASA.

Hidden Figures Website: http://www.hiddenfigures.com/

On this website, you can find information about both the movie and the book

Search for Hidden Figures Website (Movie Page) https://searchforhiddenfigures.com/the-movie/

20^th Century Fox Movie Website

http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/hidden-figures

Read others like Hidden Figures

http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2017/02/readers-advisory/ra-crossroads/no-longer-hidden-figures-ra-crossroads/

If you enjoyed Hidden Figures Library Journal has compiled a list of other books to read about women in STEM fields and others who overcame great odds to do what they love.

References

Amazon.com (2017). Hidden figures [Movie Image]. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Figures-Taraji-P-Henson/dp/B01LTI1RHG/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01LTI1RHG&pd_rd_r=JERP9PTC5J8BG13EFZ96&pd_rd_w=D8Sst&pd_rd_wg=IksCZ&psc=1&refRID=JERP9PTC5J8BG13EFZ96

20^th Century Fox. (2016, August 14). Hidden figures: Teaser trailer [HD] 20^th Century FOX [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK8xHq6dfAo&index=330&list=WL

Blitz, M. (2017). The true story of ‘Hidden Figures’ and the women who crunched the numbers for NASA: While telling the story of three unknown space heroes, Hidden Figures, also reveals a greater truth about NASA.  Popular Mechanics Goes to the Movies. Retrieved from http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a24429/hidden-figures-real-story-nasa-women-computers/

Kundu, S. (2017). Review: Hidden figures [Still Image]. Retrieved from http://standardissuemagazine.com/arts/review-hidden-figures/ 

Shetterly, M. L. (2016). Hidden figures: The American dream and the untold story of the black women mathematicians who helped win the space race. [Kindle Edition]. William Morrow.

Melfi, T. (Director). (2017). Hidden Figures [Motion picture]. United States: 21^st Century Fox.

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale [Book Review/Information]

Introduction

This is a post I made for a group blog project from my MLIS at SJSU but was unable to use on that particular blog, so  I'm posting it here.

You can find the other blog posts at http://top100childrensbooks.weebly.com/ 
The authors are myself, Julia Christy, Angela Flock, Rachael Parlier, Sarah Zaharako. We worked on the blog for a class project.

So after all that here is my unused post for Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.

MO WILLEMS' KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY TALE

Willems, M. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. Hyperion Books for Children, 2004. 32 pgs. HC $15.99 ISBN 978-0-7868-187-9.

Summary
Trixie and Daddy are running an errand to the laundromat. On the way home Trixie realizes something is wrong, Knuffle Bunny is missing!

Age Range: 3-8 years old

Awards Won: SLJ’s Top 100 Picture Books (2012), Caldecott Honor Book (2005).

Review

Willems provides a story full of action and that many children can relate to. Most children have a cherished toy, that when misplaced causes great distress, just as losing Knuffle Bunny did for Trixie. Publisher’s Weekly (2004) discusses the unique images Willems produces by combining photography and hand-drawn images. They state that “in an innovative style…employs dappled black-and-white photographs of Brooklyn as the backdrop to wickedly funny color cartoons, Willems..creates an entertaining story for parents and children alike” (Publisher's Weekly, 2004). 

Themes

Family

Adventure

Toys

Growing Up

Series Information

KNUFFLE BUNNY

1. Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale

2. Knuffle Bunny: A Case of Mistaken Identity

3. Knuffle Bunny: A Unexpected Diversion

Application

Teachers, librarians, and parents can use this book to discuss how to handle misunderstandings. As the book is read children can look at the ways in which Daddy, Mommy and Trixie communicate. The book is also a great start to a discussion of children’s favorite toys. For more great applications see the teacher’s guide listed in the Other Resources section (Pigeon Presents, n.d.).

Read-alikes

Crum, S. (20011). Mine! From Good Reads.

Pett, M. (2013). The Boy and the Airplane. From Good Reads.

Raschka, C. (2011). A Ball for Daisy. From Good Reads.

Author Official Website: http://www.mowillems.com/

Other Resources
Knuffle Bunny: Teacher’s Guide http://www.pigeonpresents.com/teachersguides/knuffle_teachguide.pdf

References 
Mayra Cutinhola Figo (User name). (June 7, 2016).  Acting out the story - Knuffle Bunny - 1º ano A [YouTube Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5WzQ9KqsBY

Knuffle Bunny [Cover Image]. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.pigeonpresents.com/book-info.aspx?bid=18

Pigeon Presents. (n.d.) Knuffle bunny: Teacher’s Guide. Hyperion Books for Children. Retrieved from http://www.pigeonpresents.com/teachersguides/knuffle_teachguide.pdf

Publishers Weekly. (2004). Knuffle bunny: A cautionary tale. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7868-1870-9

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry [Book Review]

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is part of a series by Mildred D. Taylor about the Logan family’s struggle against prejudice and racism in the South following the Civil War during the time of Jim Crow laws. In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry the family is struggling, as are many, during the Great Depression. Pa works on the railroad, away from the family for most of the year, Ma works as a school teacher, and Big Ma (grandma) helps run the farm. The four children attend an all-Black school where they must walk miles in the rain, mud, etc. to get to school instead of riding a bus as the white children do. The nine-year-old girl, Cassie, is the main protagonist. She is upset by all that is happening around her, which often leads her into trouble. The story is born out of the author’s families tales and lives, Taylor states

[b]y the fireside in our northern home or in the South…I learned a history not then written in books but one passed from generation to generation…a history of great-grandparents and of slavery and of the days following slavery: of those who lived still not free, yet who would not let their spirits be enslaved (viii).

The story has an important message to tell with well-written characters and a well-established setting. Taylor creates a world where the reader is transported back to the South during the Great Depression, to a time of sharecroppers/tenant farmers and cotton fields. Times were tough for everyone and life was especially hard for African-Americans. One caution, Taylor uses the language of the times, which makes for a realistic world but can offend many who do not understand. This book provides insight into a world that was harsh and explains many reasons for prejudice which still exists today. Unlike Hidden Figures, this book does not have a particularly happy ending. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is not a feel-good book or showing that you can overcome prejudice, it shows the harsh realities of the world as they were and are.

Mildred D. Taylor

Taylor’s storytelling is great; however, the ending comes suddenly with an unexpected twist. This book follows the family’s life as the struggle to keep their land and refuses to be bullied by the local white land owners. The book has a good structure with a good solid introduction to the characters, even though the storyline is a bit slow. The content of the book is worthwhile, just not a book that I prefer. The books main struggle and climax do not occur until the last few chapters. This adds intrigue but after reading so much that was going well for the family the end is depressing, as was the time this book was set. The end showed hope until the last few lines where you see that it does not turn out as it should have. I enjoyed reading the book and know the reality and that the ending is very realistic but was not sucked into the story until the last two chapters when most of the action happened. Overall, this book is a good read for those seeking to know more about the past but should be read with caution to younger readers.

Book Website: http://www.rollofthunderbook.com/

References

Taylor, M. D. (1976). Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Bantam Books. New York.

Book Image from Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1371876.Roll_of_Thunder_Hear_My_Cry

Image of Mildred D. Taylor from goodreads.com https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/26946.Mildred_D_Taylor 

For a review of Hidden Figures see http://aprillibraian.blogspot.com/2017/02/hidden-figures-by-margot-lee-shetterly.html