The Green Glass Sea

Bibliography:

Klages, Ellen. 2006. The Green Glass Sea. New York: Viking.
ISBN: 978-0-670-06134-1

Summary:

Dewey Kerrigan, a resilient and mechanically-minded eleven year old has lost much of her family, her mother left when she was very young and just recently her grandmother had a stroke so she is shipped off to reconnect with her father in a place that doesn't exist to outsiders. Struggling with always feeling like an outsider herself, Dewey enjoys spending time with and learning from her father until a tragic accident takes him away from her, leaving her feeling abandoned and struggling to fit into a family she was not made for. Dewey learns about life, love, family and "gadgets" amidst an internal and external world of turmoil.

Analysis:

Ellen Klages brings to life an alternate aspect of the mid-1940s; a young girl's perspective surrounding the development of "the gadget" that would bring the war to an end. Chronologically authentic, Klages mixes factual people and circumstances with fictitious characters to create an interesting account of life during a time of crisis on "the Hill" a secluded and secret government facility containing some of the most brilliant minds of the times. While many readers may struggle with understanding the full magnitude of the "gadget", they will connect with Dewey as she strives to deal with normal adolescent growing pains while being completely secluded in a limited population environment. Klages' vivid style of writing paints a clear picture of Dewey, who is "small for her age, thin and wiry, with dark unruly hair and big front teeth" (pg. 1). This type of imagery continues throughout the story, adding to it's appeal and leaving the readers questioning until the end what exactly is the green glass sea? The coke bottles that consistently make an appearance in the lives of the residents of the Hill? During a time of struggle, both inward and out, Klages provides readers with a message of love, hope and friendship that leaves readers wanting more.

Reviews:

"Klages makes an impressive debut with an ambitious, meticulously researched novel set during WWII. Writing from the points of view of two displaced children, she successfully recreates life at Los Alamos Camp, where scientists and mathematicians converge with their families to construct and test the first nuclear bomb. Eleven-year-old Dewey, the daughter of a math professor, is shunned by the other girls at the camp due to her passionate interest in mechanics and her fascination with the dump, which holds all sorts of mechanisms and tools she can use for her projects. Her classmate Suze is also often snubbed and has been nicknamed "Truck" by her classmates ("'cause she's kind of big and likes to push people around," explains one boy). The two outcasts reluctantly come together when Dewey's father is called away to Washington, D.C., and Dewey temporarily moves in with Suze's family. Although the girls do not get along at first (Suze draws a chalk line in her room to separate their personal spaces), they gradually learn to rely on each other for comfort, support and companionship. Details about the era-popular music, pastimes and products-add authenticity to the story as do brief appearances of some historic figures including Robert Oppenheimer....the author provides much insight into the controversies surrounding the making of the bomb and brings to life the tensions of war experienced by adults and children alike." - Publisher's Weekly, starred review (from http://ellenklages.com)

"Dewey, ten, embarks alone on a mysterious train trip from her grandmother's home in St. Louis to New Mexico, where she will rejoin her often-absent mathematician father. It's 1943, and Dewey's dad is working at Los Alamos -- "the Hill" -- with hundreds of other scientists and their families. Klages evokes both the big-sky landscape of the Southwest and a community where "everything is secret" with inviting ease and the right details, focusing particularly on the society of the children who live there. Dewey seems comfortable with her own oddness (she's small for her age, slightly lame, and loves inventing mechanical gizmos) and serves as something of an example to another girl, Suze, who has been trying desperately to fit in. Their burgeoning friendship sees them through bouts of taunting, their parents' ceaseless attention to "the gadget," personal tragedy, and of course the test detonation early on July 16, 1945, which the two girls watch from a mesa two hundred miles away: "Dewey could see the colors and patterns of blankets and shirts that had been indistinct grays a second before, as if it were instantly morning, as if the sun had risen in the south, just this once." Cameo appearances are made by such famous names as Richard Feynman (he helps Dewey build a radio) and Robert Oppenheimer, but the story, an intense but accessible page-turner, firmly belongs to the girls and their families; history and story are drawn together with confidence." - The Horn Book, starred review (from http://ellenklages.com)

"The characters are exceptionally well drawn, and the compelling, unusual setting makes a great tie-in for history classes." - Booklist (from http://ellenklages.com)

Awards: 

2007 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
2007 Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature
2007 New Mexico State Book Award (YA)

Connections: 

• Utilizing information from the author's note, map a time line of Los Alamos' development of the Atomic Bomb
• Research how the Atomic Bomb was used and write a response from one of the character's perspectives
• Science extension-research exactly how glass was created from sand
• Group discussion about the effects of war from Dewey's era compared to today's generation; How have things changed? How are they the same?
• Read sequel by Ellen Klages, White Sands, Red Menace (ISBN: 978-067-006235-5)