The Green Glass Sea [Hardcover]

Ellen Klages (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Two girls spend a year in Los Alamos as their parents work on the secret gadget that will end World War II. Dewey is a mechanically minded 10-year-old who gets along fine with the scientists at the site, but is teased by girls her own age. When her mathematician father is called away, she moves in with Suze, who initially detests her new roommate. The two draw closer, though, and their growing friendship is neatly set against the tenseness of the Los Alamos compound as the project nears completion. Clear prose brings readers right into the unusual atmosphere of the secretive scientific community, seen through the eyes of the kids and their families. Dewey is an especially engaging character, plunging on with her mechanical projects and ignoring any questions about gender roles. Occasional shifts into first person highlight the protagonist's most emotional moments, including her journey to the site and her reaction to her father's unexpected death. After the atomic bomb test succeeds, ethical concerns of both youngsters and adults intensify as the characters learn how it is ultimately used. 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.–Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In November 1943, 10-year-old budding inventor Dewey Kerrigan sets off on a cross-country train ride to be with her father, who is engaged in "war work." She is busy designing a radio when a fellow passenger named Dick Feynman offers to help her. Feynman's presence in this finely wrought first novel is the first clue that Dewey is headed for Los Alamos. The mystery and tension surrounding "war work" and what Dewey knows only as "the gadget" trickles down to the kids living in the Los Alamos compound, who often do without adult supervision. Although disliked by her girl classmates, "Screwy Dewey" enjoys Los Alamos. There are lots of people to talk with about radios (including "Oppie"), and she has the wonderful opportunity to dig through the nearby dump for discarded science stuff. However, when Dewey's father leaves for Washington, she is left to fend off the biggest bully in Los Alamos. 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. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (October 19, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670061344
• ISBN-13: 978-0670061341
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Kind of Read I Always Hope For..., January 11, 2007

By 

Jennifer Juday "Working Mom & Cook" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Green Glass Sea (Hardcover)

THE GREEN GLASS SEA is a beautifully written novel. I am recommending it to friends that like good writing. In bookstores, this will likely be shelved in the Young Adult section, and may also be associated with the Science Fiction section. I think people who read in those genres will both enjoy this book.

Beyond that, I think that anyone who enjoys good writing will find this story of two girls during World War II simply bewitching. One is a budding scientist, the other a budding artist, and neither "fits in" with the popular kids at school. The story of their struggles with these issues is folded in to the place and time where they live, and the impact that World War II is having on them and on everyone they know.

I liked this book so, so much. Every single character had a voice that I believed. THE GREEN GLASS SEA made me smile, and it brought tears to my eyes. It was the kind of read I always hope for but do not always find. I liked it so much I read it again after a bit, to see if it was as good as I hoped. It is.

Ellen Klages is a treasure, and I hope to read more of her books. I highly, highly recommend THE GREEN GLASS SEA.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect blend of historical fiction and coming-of-age tale, March 5, 2007

By 

Grace Leigh (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Green Glass Sea (Hardcover)

A middle grade novel that adults will also love, The Green Glass Sea is an endearing tale set on the Los Alamos base during World War II. When ten-year-old Dewey Kerrigan is sent to New Mexico to join her father, a scientist working on the Manhattan Project, she doesn't realize that she is also joining a small community of families whose lives revolve around the development of the top secret "gadget". But Dewey adjusts quickly to her new world. She's thrilled to be near her father again and to be in an environment that provides her with unlimited resources for building her own mechanical projects, her favorite hobby. Brainy and small for her age, Dewey soon finds that she's a misfit even in the world in which she feels she so belongs. Yet she doesn't let this bother her. That is, until her father is sent away on an important mission and Dewey is forced to share a room - and some of her deepest secrets - with her biggest enemy.

Readers will fall in love with Dewey's sweet, unassuming nature and with Klages' splendid writing, which captures the innocence, vulnerability, and resilience of childhood. Klages creates a world that is extremely unique yet somehow very familiar, and she perfectly portrays this world through the perspective of a child. Her carefully chosen details are described in a simple, understated manner that expertly blends historical fiction and coming-of-age tale. Though quiet, Klages' story brings to life a setting and cast of characters that will stay with you long after you've finished her book.

The Green Glass Sea is a novel for young readers that is actually for a young audience yet will also be loved by adults. I highly recommend it to all readers over the age of nine.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing up at Los Alamos During WWII, October 24, 2006

By 

Karen Woodworth Roman "Happy Librarian" (DeKalb, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Green Glass Sea (Hardcover)

The Green Glass Sea is a coming of age story that focuses on two girls and their experiences growing up at the super secret Los Alamos military camp during WWII. The girls reluctantly become friends as they experience the fears, uncertainties, and losses that come with war. Some fascinating aspects of the story are the relationship between the girls and the camp authorities, the brilliant scientists, and even their parents. It touches on the larger issues associated with nuclear weapons. Karen Woodworth Roman, Reference Librarian