Glow / Megan E. Bryant.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2017 Selection

Lydia is thrilled to join the working girls in the factory, where they paint luminous watch dials for the soldiers fighting in World War I. In the future, these girls will be known as the tragic Radium Girls: factory workers not only poisoned by the glowing paint, but who also had to fight against men who knew of the paint's deadly effect. One hundred years later, Julie, whose life is on hold after high school, becomes intrigued by a series of mysterious antique paintings she finds in a thrift store. When she discovers their hidden-and increasingly nightmarish-glowing images, Julie is determined to learn more about them. As Julie's obsession mounts, truths about the Radium Girls-and her own complicated relationships-are revealed. Can she uncover the secrets behind the paintings before she puts herself and everyone she loves at risk?

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

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 © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

When recent high-school grad and artist Julie finds a mysterious painting at a local thrift shop, with hidden images that glow in the dark, she becomes obsessed with finding more of these paintings and trying to replicate the technique. In alternating chapters, we meet Lydia in 1917, writing letters to her love overseas fighting in the Great War, as she starts work at a factory painting glowing watch faces. As her older sister falls ill from ingesting radioactive material, unbeknownst to either as deadly Lydia struggles to find the answers to her ailment. This fictionalized take on the Radium Girls is by turns suspenseful, macabre, and, at points, quite gory. Bryant doesn't shy away from the true horrors that befell these women and worse, the abject neglect from their male superiors, many of whom knew the true dangers of radium. Though the romance between Julie and a chemistry undergrad sometimes strains belief, Julie and Lydia's real-life struggles with family and personal responsibility ring true. An eye-opening window into a troubling moment in history.--Barnes, Jennifer Copyright 2017 Booklist

Horn Book Review

A conventional contemporary YA romance is given an infusion of originality with a parallel narrative set in 19171918. In the here-and-now, Julie has her problems: sad mother, deadbeat dad, financial woes, and a best friend who is pulling away. In the past, Lydia and her sisters work at a factory that produces luminous watch faces, unaware that the paint they use causes radiation poisoning. What links the two strands of the narrative is a mysterious glow-in-the-dark painting Julie acquires from a thrift store. Another thematic link is each ones male love interest: Julies Luke, an almost-too-good-to-be-true graduate chemistry student; and Lydias Walter, her soldier beloved, fighting in Europe in WWI. The historical background (expanded in an authors note) is intriguing, embracing chemistry, medicine, and labor and womens histories. Although the contemporary story is marred by contrivance (good thing Julie met a handy chemist with lab access, as she has to devise her own luminous paint!), Lydias story, as told in letters to Walter, is compelling. It builds nicely in suspense and tragedy, and her voice is restrained and convincing: I can neither breathe nor sleep nor fully be of this world, with all our ease of living, until you are back in it with me. sarah ellis (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.