The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon bestseller The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore will be the featured book for the 17th Livermore Reads Together (LRT), the Library’s annual community reading program sponsored by the Friends of the Livermore Public Library.
The community was asked to choose the book for next year’s Livermore Reads Together by voting online and in-person for one of four titles selected by Livermore Public Library staff. Radium Girls received the most votes and won the day.
Throughout the month of March 2023, the library will host a series of events honoring Women’s History Month and the themes in Radium Girls. Stay tuned for exciting programs currently being planned.
About the book: The Curies’ newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. From body lotion to tonic water, the popular new element shines bright in the otherwise dark years of the First World War.
Meanwhile, hundreds of girls toil amidst the glowing dust of the radium-dial factories. The glittering chemical covers their bodies from head to toe; they light up the night like industrious fireflies. With such a coveted job, these “shining girls” are the luckiest alive – until they begin to fall mysteriously ill.
But the factories that once offered golden opportunities are now ignoring all claims of the gruesome side effects, and the women’s cries of corruption. And as the fatal poison of the radium takes hold, the brave shining girls find themselves embroiled in one of the biggest scandals of America’s early 20th century, and in a groundbreaking battle for workers’ rights that will echo for centuries to come.
Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the “wonder” substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
