Rach's Reading Club

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
by Paul Zindel



I read this play for the first time while I was in school. It made some kind of an impact on me and I never forgot this book. So, since the topic this month is Young Adult, I decided to give it another read.

The story is about an exceptionally bright girl in a tragic situation; a broken home and a downward spiraling family. Lots of dysfunction here.

Matilda, nicknamed Tillie, prepares an experiment involving marigolds raised from seeds exposed to radioactivity for her science fair project. She is constantly berated by her self-centered and abusive mother Beatrice, and by her extroverted and unstable older sister Ruth, who submits to their mother's will.

Beatrice constantly tries to ruin any chance Tillie has of succeeding, due to her own lack of success in life. As the play progresses, the paths of the three characters diverge: Ruth has a nervous breakdown while standing up to her mom and impulsively kills the pet rabbit, Peter, and wallows in her own perceived insignificance. Tillie meanwhile (much like her projects deformed yet beautiful, hardy marigolds) wins the science fair through sheer perseverance.

The actual experiment of growing the marigolds is one big, dynamic metaphor and is really well written.