Paul Zindel Summary

Biography EssayCritics of adolescent literature generally cite four novels of the late 1960s as helping this subgenre break its ties with its past formulaic romanticism and move dramatically into a mu... Read more

Considered a groundbreaking author of young adult literature as well as one of its most controversial contributors, Paul Zindel is well known as the creator of realistic novels that depict the teenage... Read more

A playwright who draws heavily on his personal experiences for the material of his plays, Paul Zindel is best known for his largely autobiographical award-winner, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-th... Read more

Here, in the course of arguing that drama is a form of expression inherent in humankind, Zindel recollects events in his own life that demonstrate an innate affinity for the theater. I am told I am... Read more

A Yugoslavian-born American film and drama critic, Simon has been both praised as a judicious reviewer and censured as a petty faultfinder. He believes that criticism should be subjective, and as Andr... Read more

Here, Barnes discusses the various themes in Amulets Against the Dragon Forces. Paul Zindel is one of those unfortunate playwrights best-known for his first play—The Effect of Gamma Rays on ... Read more

Here, Simon approves of the production of Amulets against the Dragon Forces, praising Zindel's use of dialogue. Paul Zindel's Amulets Against the Dragon Forces is not up to the author... Read more

Janeczko is an American educator and editor of works for young adults. Below, Zindel discusses with Janeczko his development as an author and offers advice to new writers. [Janeczko]: What is the d... Read more

An English-born American drama and dance critic whose commentary has appeared regularly in New York Times and New York Post, Barnes has been called "the first, second and third most powerful cr... Read more

Critical Essay by Isabel Quigly Paul Zindel's people seem to take over his book entirely and live so vividly you forget there's a narrator at all. [J. D.] Salinger managed the same effe... Read more

Critical Essay by Isabel Quigly Like the other heroes of Paul Zindel's books [Chris Boyd, hero of Confessions of a Teenage Baboon], can explain, in language that comes convincingly from a sixt... Read more

Critical Essay by Joyce Milton Paul Zindel has been a trendsetter in young-adult fiction since 1968. Significantly, his latest book ["The Undertaker's Gone Bananas"] features a t... Read more

Critical Essay by Jack Forman Whatever one expects of a novel by Paul Zindel, [A Star for the Latecomer] is not it. (It is co-authored by his wife.) There are no drunk mothers, wayward fathers, and &... Read more

Critical Essay by Judith N. Mitchell [In The Girl Who Wanted a Boy] Sibella Cametta, 15 year old clod and scientific whiz, learns that it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at al... Read more

Critical Essay by A. Thatcher [The Girl Who Wanted a Boy, written] by an author who certainly understands American teenagers, is a brilliantly and sensitively written story of Sibella's search... Read more

Critical Essay by Diane Gersoni-edelman [In his My Darling, My Hamburger], Zindel copped out on his likable, interest-sustaining characters by resolving their problems in a pat, moralizing manner. Th... Read more

Critical Essay by Zena Sutherland [Let Me Hear You Whisper is a touching and trenchant two-act play. It] reads beautifully, with good dialogue and characterization, an original plot, and a theme that... Read more