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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionseBook editionsThe Green Glass Seaby Ellen Klages
Awards2007 Scott O'Dell Award Winner
Staff Pick
This is the best historical novel I've read in ages. It focuses on two girls who are completely different, but forced to live together, while their parents are working on the same project in an isolated community in Los Alamos, New Mexico in 1943. You, the reader, already know what is about to happen. But what will be the result for these girls and their families? I didn't want this story to end. Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:It is 1943, and 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan is traveling west on a train to live with her scientist father — but no one, not her father nor the military guardians who accompany her, will tell her exactly where he is. When she reaches Los Alamos, New Mexico, she learns why: he's working on a top secret government program. Over the next few years, Dewey gets to know eminent scientists, starts tinkering with her own mechanical projects, becomes friends with a budding artist who is as much of a misfit as she is — and, all the while, has no idea how the Manhattan Project is about to change the world. This book's fresh prose and fascinating subject are like nothing you've read before. Review:"Klages makes an impressive debut with an ambitious, meticulously researched novel set during WWII. Writing from the points of view of two displaced children, she successfully recreates life at Los Alamos Camp, where scientists and mathematicians converge with their families to construct and test the first nuclear bomb. Eleven-year-old Dewey, the daughter of a math professor, is shunned by the other girls at the camp due to her passionate interest in mechanics and her fascination with the dump, which holds all sorts of mechanisms and tools she can use for her projects. Her classmate Suze is also often snubbed and has been nicknamed 'Truck' by her classmates (' 'cause she's kind of big and likes to push people around,' explains one boy). The two outcasts reluctantly come together when Dewey's father is called away to Washington, D.C., and Dewey temporarily moves in with Suze's family. Although the girls do not get along at first (Suze draws a chalk line in her room to separate their personal spaces), they gradually learn to rely on each other for comfort, support and companionship. Details about the era — popular music, pastimes and products — add authenticity to the story as do brief appearances of some historic figures including Robert Oppenheimer, who breaks the news to Dewey that her father has been killed in a car accident. If the book is a little slow-moving at times, the author provides much insight into the controversies surrounding the making of the bomb and brings to life the tensions of war experienced by adults and children alike. Ages 9-up. (Oct.) " Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"Many readers will know as little about the true nature of the project as the girls do, so the gradual revelation of facts is especially effective, while those who already know about Los Alamos's historical significance will experience the story in a different, but equally powerful, way." School Library Journal Review:"The novel occasionally gets mired down in detail, but the characters are exceptionally well drawn, and the compelling, unusual setting makes a great tie-in for history classes." Booklist Review:"Readers won't understand what the title refers to until the last chapter of the book, but will enjoy the journey while getting there." Children's Literature Review:"The book is well written, with intelligent characters....Its well-researched information...will appeal to readers of historical fiction." VOYA Synopsis:In this remarkable debut novel, 11-year-old Dewey Kerrigan is traveling west on a train to live with her scientist father, but no one will tell her exactly where he is. It is 1943 and her destination is Alamos, New Mexico, where scientists are working on the Manhattan Project.
About the AuthorNebula Award-winning author Ellen Klages lives in San Francisco, California. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!Average customer rating based on 4 comments:
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