Where the Ground Meets the Sky [Hardcover]

Jacqueline Davies (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

It's 1944, and war is raging in Europe and the Pacific. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Hazel is fighting her own battles somewhere in the New Mexico desert. Life has gotten increasingly complicated and lonely since Dad brought Mom and her to live on the Hill, an ugly place surrounded by a chain-link fence and barbed wire. A brilliant physicist, he is working hard on the Big Mystery, while poor Mom, who has always believed that secrets are bad for the soul, has retreated into a world of her own. A powerful, fictional account of the development of the atomic bomb, this novel offers young readers no simple answers. It does, however, give them plenty to think about as well as an intriguing story populated by a background cast of some of the most important characters of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grades 5-8--This well-constructed novel has the elements of a good adventure story but also depicts one family's struggle to stay together in the face of adversity. The year is 1944 and war is raging in Europe and the Pacific while 12-year-old Hazel is fighting her own battles somewhere in the New Mexico desert. Life has gotten complicated and lonely since her dad brought her and her mother to live on the Hill, a military base surrounded by a chain-link fence and barbed wire. A brilliant physicist, he and other scientists are working on the Big Mystery, while Hazel's mother, who believes that secrets are "bad for the soul," has slowly retreated into her own world. Hazel is a strong protagonist who behaves with compassion and sensitivity toward family and friends. She experiences the emotional loss of her mother and the physical loss of her father, who spends countless hours at work on "the gadget." The gold-star banners found on some of the houses on the Hill that signify the death of a serviceman, and the death of Hazel's friend's cat, which had been exposed to radiation, symbolize the tragic nature of war. The descriptive narrative wonderfully juxtaposes the dreariness of the Hill with the beauty of the natural landscape, offering hope. This suspenseful story successfully captures the tensions of a volatile period in American history as the atomic bomb was being developed. Readers will be left with plenty to think about and no simple answers.
Janet Gillen, Great Neck Public Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Twelve-year-old Hazel is too smart for her own good, and she's astonished by the oddness of her life. Her family has moved from New Jersey to some place in New Mexico called the "Hill"--which doesn't even have an address. Her father is working on something so secret he cannot talk about it, and her mother is becoming increasingly distant as the year goes on. The story is told in Hazel's lively, if self-conscious voice, and it is set in 1944 at family compounds that materialized so scientists could work on the Manhattan Project--the atomic bomb. Davies skillfully describes the secrecy and intensity of the work and how it affected every aspect of the researchers' and their families' lives. The moral issues are handled rather clumsily, and Hazel's mother's mental illness in the face of her husband's terrifying job seems like an easy out. But, as Hazel makes a friend, discovers a secret, and grapples with her own fiery intelligence, a portion of American history that wasn't so very long ago takes on shape and reality. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Childrens Books; First Edition edition (April 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761451056
• ISBN-13: 978-0761451051
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,800,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jacqueline Davies is the talented author of both novels and picture books. Jacqueline lives in Needham, Massachusetts, with her three children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, powerful message, May 21, 2002

By 

A. Helies (Weston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where the Ground Meets the Sky (Hardcover)

This is a book to give your kid this summer. It is a terrific read with characters a kid will relate to, a real world mystery and a story which will make them think.
In 1942 Los Alamos was a practically empty mesa in the desert Southwest. By 1943 it was the home to the Manhattan Project and the families of the men and women creating the world's first atom bomb. We see this world through the eyes of 12 year old Hazel, the most interesting character I have run across since I met Sharon Creech's Sal in Walk Two Moons. No one knows what the Dad's and Mom's are working on and Hazel intends to find out. What she learns, and how she gets there, makes a very captivating and tight story.

5.0 out of 5 stars A look at Los Alamos from a young girl who was "there", May 20, 2002

By 

Carol Harris (Watertown, Massachusetts United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where the Ground Meets the Sky (Hardcover)

A wonderfully written, informative, and thoughtful book on a subject that has not been extensively covered in books for young readers. Hazel is not your average twelve-year old in 1943. But then, neither is her family. Where The Ground Meets the Sky gives readers, young and old, an "up close and personal" glimpse into the family dynamics of living at Los Alamos while scientists were developing the "bomb". Reading almost like a mystery at times, we see the effects of this discovery from a different perspective -that of Hazel, her friends and her sensitive mother. An excellent source of discussion for both young and old.