Glow

Starred review from July 1, 2017
A disturbing painting plunges a modern girl into a decades-old mystery.After sacrificing her college savings to help save her family's home, Julie is stuck working at Bed Bath & Beyond while her best friend Lauren has the fortunate circumstance to attend Parsons in the fall, a dream both once shared. The white teens' final summer together begins with a painting Julie purchases at a thrift store. After hanging the painting and then turning off the light to sleep, Julie discovers that the darkness reveals an entire new painting underneath the surface that's visible in the light. The only clue to the artist's identity is the signature, the initials L.G. An artist herself, Julie goes on the hunt, dragging Lauren along, to discover more. They find other paintings that share this uncanny technique of masking two paintings in one. With each painting they find, the darkness reveals chilling images connected to a true story of young women who worked at a watch-painting facility during World War I. Alternating chapters follow Julie's quest and present decades-old love letters written by Lydia, a white radium factory worker, both slowly revealing the horrific story of young women who were exposed to radioactive paints. With this interleaved technique, Bryant brilliantly lures readers into an engaging mystery, a page-turner that begins beneath layers revealed in both paintings and chapters. A riveting story of ambitious and self-sufficient women, both in the present and past. (Mystery/historical fiction. 14-18)

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Starred review from September 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-Two young women, a century apart, find themselves drawn to the same dangerous glow. Julie, a young woman in the present day, is unable to pay for college after sacrificing her savings to help save her family's home. In her desperate attempt to forget about her circumstances, Julie looks for a project to occupy her thoughts. During a visit to a thrift store, she discovers paintings that not only glow in the dark but also reveal an entirely different scene that cannot be visible in the light. Julie becomes obsessed with learning the identity of the painter. In her quest, she finds the paintings are connected to a young woman named Lydia. Lydia and her sister work for a factory, painting watches that can glow in the dark for soldiers overseas during World War I. Unbeknownst to the women in the factory, the paints they work with contain radium, a dangerous chemical. Bryant weaves this story by alternating chapters of Julie's perspective and sharing Lydia's letters to her loved one overseas. As each girl tells their story, the true events and stories of the real radium girls are brought to light. Bryant's novel will surely spur readers to learn more about this dark part of history. Pair with Kate Moore's Radium Girls. VERDICT Libraries looking for historical fiction novels to add to their collection should consider this a strong purchase.-Aileen Barton, Sherman Public Library, TX

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