TWU LS 5603 - Historical Fiction - THE GREEN GLASS SEA

Klages, Ellen. 2006. THE GREEN GLASS SEA. New York, N.Y.: Viking. ISBN 0670061344

PLOT SUMMARY

This is the story of a girl named Dewey and her father, a scientist, working on the Manhattan project in 1943.  Dewey travels alone from St. Louis to Los Alamos, New Mexico to reunite with her father after her grandmother has a stroke.  Dewey’s love of electronics and her new discovery of a trash dump with a heap of discarded parts make friends out of the boys in her new neighborhood and set Dewey apart from most of the girls. After the death of her father, Dewey is left alone. Two scientists, who worked with her father, adopt Dewey and travel to the explosion site to take a piece of history with them as they start their new life.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Ellen Klages writes an enthralling novel about the atomic bomb - full of young, often brash characters and the adults that are charged with taking care of them in an unfamiliar and volatile environment. Her description of life in Los Alamos is intriguing and has a two layered storyline of the yearning for acceptance and love by Dewey and the historical development of the bomb by the adult scientists. The power of the government, the power of science, and the power of love are all woven together and leave the reader interested in learning more about the development of the bomb.

In the opening chapter a vivid description of Dewey Kerrigan is given from her physical appearance of her hair and build, to the fact that she has been a victim of polio by the description of her shoes. She is sitting alone because her Nana has been taken away due to a stroke. Throughout the book Dewey is endearing to readers because she moves to a new place and has to find new friends in this strangely secretive environment.  Problems with fitting in as a new kid and navigating her love of mechanical things, leaves Dewey as a underdog character that the reader can rally behind.  With Dewey’s father traveling and leaving her under other’s care you feel her fear of abandonment as he leaves for Washington never to return. The Gordon family provides a stable warm family environment as they eventually adopt Dewey.

           

There is the desperation of the scientists to make progress on this project as apparent in the dialogue between the scientists throughout the book and the references to “The Allies are just outside Paris. It won’t be long.”  The use of the term “gadget” to describe the bomb is appealing to younger readers.  With Dewey’s fascination with her own gadgets she is not worried that her father is also working on a gadget.  The secrecy involved in living on a military base is detailed through the use of the ID cards, missing addresses, secret sites, and nicknames for the fields of science like “fizzers” and “stinkers.”

The mention of “Hitler,”  “Eleanor Roosevelt,” “Truman,” and “Robert Oppenheimer,” are real names from the time period with an impact on this historical setting’s authenticity. The Author’s notes provide other sources about the development of the atomic bomb.

The adult characters are all involved in creating this “gadget” to win the war.  The heroic theme of saving the United States and keeping our freedom is timeless as apparent in the statement made by Dewey’s dad “if we win this war, I’ll always be free to do what I love. To solve problems, to teach, to share my discoveries. A lot of my colleagues can’t. Some of them have died for it.”

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Book Links (ALA) 12/01/08

Publishers Weekly starred 10/23/06

Booklist 11/15/06

School Library Journal 11/01/06

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 01/01/07

Wilson’s Children 10/01/07

Horn Book starred 04/01/07

Wilson’s Junior High School 01/09/10

Horn Book starred (Spring 2007) – “History and story are drawn together with confidence in this intense but accessible page-turner.”

Library Media Connection (April/May 2007) – “The description of this part of World War II is interesting and provocative. This well-paced story gives us an insight to a different part of the war and how it affected the people that were involved in the Manhattan Project.”

CONNECTIONS

Klages, Ellen. 2008. WHITE SANDS, RED MENACE. New York, N.Y.: Viking.

ISBN 0670062359

·         Partner this book as a sequel

Zindel, Paul. 2001. THE GADGET. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN 0060278129

·         Partner this book as a male character lead in a similar story

Boyne, John. 2006. THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS: A FABLE. Oxford: David Fickling Books. ISBN 038575107

Partner this book to explore community facades during historical events