The Green Glass Sea (Module 5)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kages, Ellen. 2006. The Green Glass Sea. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 9780545036139



2. PLOT SUMMARY

Dewey Kerrigan, after being abandoned by her mother and losing her grandmother, is sent to live with her father, a scientist doing top secret work during WWII. Although she has trouble fitting in with the other kids, Dewey doesn’t mind because she is in math and science heaven. When her father is sent to Washington, D.C, she goes to live with the family of the girl she gets along with the least, Suze Gordon. When her father is killed in an accident, Dewey has no place to stay but the Gordon’s, and she and Suze finally become close friends. 


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Kages writes a WWII novel from the interesting perspective of the children of the scientists who secretly worked on the atomic bomb. The dates are well documented throughout the book as chapter headers (1943-45), yet the town is unknown until Dewey finally arrives—Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Secrets abound for much of the book as the reader is kept in the dark about what they are working on and what will happen with it. Those who know history will find it fascinating how the knowledge unfolds to these children. For kids who are not as well versed in history, they will relate to the idea of being kept in the dark by adults and find the revelation of what is being worked on as amazing as the characters themselves do. Towards the end of the novel, readers get to see the atomic bomb testing and are introduced to the green glass sea, the melting of the sand where it was tested.


History is intricately woven throughout this book. Scientists who are real (e.g. scientist Dick Feynman, first introduced on the train to New Mexico, and J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of Manhattan project, who informs Dewey of her father’s death) work alongside the fictional characters. The book is also filled with small historical details like how big a deal it was to go and get a Coke, the children’s love of comic books, and listening to the radio as a form of entertainment. Although there is some cussing throughout the novel, it is not too disturbing because it seems to fit with the time period and the anxiousness of the war.

The final author’s note at the end of the novel explains how secretive Dewey’s world actually was and how Los Alamos didn’t even appear on any maps back then. Kelly also gives recommended titles for further information on this period.

This coming of age novel presents readers with a wonderful story of figuring out who you are and how to hold that together in the midst of tragedy. It is amazing how Dewey does so after losing her father—her last family member. Many generations of readers should enjoy this book about friendship, loyalty, and love.


4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)


• Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
• Horn Book starred review: “History and story are drawn together with confidence in this intense but accessible page-turner.”
• Library Media Connection review: “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.”
• Publishers Weekly starred review: “If the book is a little slow-moving at times, 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.”


5. CONNECTIONS 


• The Los Alamos Historical Society has put together a website that shares some information about their part in the Manhattan Project. The site gives extra details and includes pictures (even one of Oppenheimer). It’s a great way to introduce the facts within the fiction.
  
• For a different perspective on the atomic bomb, make sure to show students information about the dropping of the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. There are many places to gather information and photos of the destruction. Use this topic to debate what people see as the positives and negatives of what happened through the use of the atomic bomb.
• Nonfiction books for children/YA about Los Alamos:

Church, Peggy Pond. The House at Otowi Bridge: The Story of Edith Warner and Los Alamos. ISBN: 9780826302816

Mason, Katrina R. Children of Los Alamos: An Oral History of the Town Where the Atomic Age Began. ISBN: 9780805791389

Litchman, Kristin Embry. Secrets! of a Los Alamos Kid, 1946-1953. ISBN: 9780941232272