The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read this book aloud to my 9yo and neither of us really loved it.
Set in the 1940s in New Mexico at the site of the Manhattan Project, this historical fiction deals with a subject that certainly is not familiar to most children today: WWII and the atomic bomb. Klages does a great job of filtering everything through the lives and viewpoints of children (Suze and Dewey) so there is just a sense that the "gadget" is causing either celebration or unease with the scientist parents feverishly working on the project. The subject matter opened plenty of options for dialogue with my daughter to explain the conditions of the world at the time, and the ramifications of the bombs.
The plot moved slowly, and while the themes were heavy (war! death! abandonment! women in science! bullying!) the novel felt almost quiet in tone. Lots of detail for setting and actions made the book seem sluggish at times.
Overall, while I would say neither of us felt glued to every word, this book opened up some great discussions and provided my daughter an excellent glimpse of the difference between a child in Los Alamos in the mid forties and a child today.
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