The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, published in 1964, was Zindel's first play, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1971. The play stars Tillie, a brilliant girl who lives with her epileptic sister and her overbearing mother; through her success in science, Tillie is able to break free from her stifling family.

I Never Loved Your Mind (1970), Zindel's third novel, stars high school dropout Dewey Daniels and his true love, fellow dropout Yvette Goethals.

In Zindel's My Darling, My Hamburger (1969), a high school girl discovers she is pregnant, but her abusive parents are no help, so she decides to visit an illegal abortionist.

Zindel's Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball! (1976) tells the story of two misfits who head out for adventure.

In Zindel's The Pigman's Legacy (1980), a sequel to The Pigman, John and Lorraine visit the Pigman's...