Feminist Approach to Man on the Moon Marigolds

A play written by a man with the only visible characters being women is in itself something for feminist critics to work with. One point I found fascinating in the play was how all three of the main characters, Beatrice, Ruthie, and Tillie, seem somehow incomplete. Beatrice and Ruthie are the almost typical overtly feminine characters who wear red lipstick and smoke. Yet they are social outcasts because they are thought to be crazy. Tillie can be seen as breaking out of the stereotypical female role by being successful in school, especially in science. However, she is the one who finds a male figure, even if we don't see much of him in the play. While none of the characters are stereotypically feminine characters, they aren't strong either.

And the Award Goes to. . .

Judy Blundell's book What I Saw and How I Lied. An element that I thought was award worthy was the time setting. I think that the time setting made the characters' experience unique and different from other YA novels. Blundell did a wonderful job in developing her characters and setting, taking readers into that time period to experience what it was like to be a teenager. The details made the story believable, even if a reader does not know the time period.
Another element that made this novel unique was the subject matter. The fact that the character, when faced with the ultimate decision in the novel, chose to do the morally wrong thing is not something you see very often. The readers can feel how difficult her decision was and the forced focus she describes as she faces the courtroom. While not giving clear cut answers on how to deal with life's difficult issues, the novel allows readers to form their own opinion on what the main character did. Blundell handled very sensitive and mature content such as sexuality, antisemitism, war, serious family issues and infidelity without making them the overshadow the main character's own turmoil as a maturing young woman, making the read informative and multifaceted but not overwhelming. Overall, the novel had award worthy handling of it's subject matter.