The Green Glass Sea

Book: The Green Glass Sea
Author: Ellen Klages
Audience: Grades 4 to 7
In a Nutshell: Our parents invented the atomic bomb- how about yours?

In 1943, Dewey Kerrigan takes the train alone from Chicago to New Mexico to join her scientist father at the secret location where the world's greatest scientists are working on "the gadget." She is a smart girl who loves to tinker with mechanics, and is more comfortable around adults than kids her own age. And at Los Alamos, most of the adults are world-famous scientists, which suits her fine.

Suze Gordon tries desperately to fit in on "The Hill", but the popular girls call her "the truck" behind her back. She protests when "Screwy Dewey" comes to stay with her family when her father goes to Washington for several weeks, but the two girls gradually come to an understanding, then find friendship.

Against the backdrop of Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project, the girls live their lives, unaware of the enormity of what their parents are creating; and really, the adults don’t understand it themselves.

Interesting look at a pivotal scientific acheivement and the community that grew up around its creation. I found it a bit slow at times, but nicely written. Dewey and Suze are nicely fleshed out, although only a few of the other characters feel real; which is ironic, since several of them actually were real historical people. I expected more from a few of Dewey's adult friendships that were set up but never explored.
Dewey's voice occasionally shifts from present to past tense, which didn't really work for me; I found it distracting. But aside from the picky stuff, it's a great picture of life not just during WWII, but in a historic ad hoc community.