The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages

The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages is about 10 year old Dewey, the daughter of a scientist working on a top secret project for the U.S. government during WWII. After her grandmother has a stroke and is put into a home, Dewey goes to live with her father at the "Hill," a place that is so secret that it technically doesn't even exist. Many scientists live there and work on the "gadget" this is supposed to stop the war once and for all. Included among the scientists are Robert Oppenheimer and Richard Feynman. None of the kids who live at the Hill know what the scientists are working on, just that their parents are at the lab more than they are at home and that whatever gadget they are creating is important to the government.

I really enjoyed this book. It was recommended to me by a student and I can't wait to visit with her about it! Anyone who knows about the history of WWII knows that these two scientists were involved with creating the first atomic bomb, which eventually was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan at the end of the war. This book was really interesting because as the reader, I knew more than the characters about what would happen with the "gadget" and the consequences of using it on Japan. The main characters, Dewey and Suze were just trying to get through their own daily struggles as girls growing up during the 1940s on a top secret military base. They had the same types of experiences as girls growing up now - bullies, new friendships, family problems, etc.