Sunday, November 13, 2011

Book Review - The Green Glass Sea

1. Bibliography
Klages, Ellen. 2006. The Green Glass Sea. New York: Viking. ISBN: 9780142411490.
2. Plot Summary
The year is 1943 and eleven year old Dewey Kerrigan must travel from St. Louis to Los Alamos, New Mexico all alone.  Her grandmother is in poor health and cannot take care of her, her mother abandoned her as an infant, and her father is working for the government to help with the war effort.  His top-secret work forces Dewey and her father to live at a strange government compound along with other families who are in the same situation.  Dewey, somewhat of a misfit, becomes friends with someone who is almost her polar opposite.  
3. Critical Analysis
In this book, Klages unwraps a fresh, appropriate account of  actual events during World War II that inexplicably disrupted families and placed them in a unique situation.  This presentation brings to readers historical events and difficult situations that the audience might not encounter otherwise.  Descriptions of music and pastimes of Americans during that era, give readers a sense that this book relates real events from the past.  Readers will come away with a clearer understanding of what happened right here in America that impacted the war.  
Klages also presents themes that readers can relate to such as losing a parent, learning to accept those who are different from yourself, and the impact of war on people everywhere.  This text's fresh approach to a fascinating, though almost forgotten, subject, makes it unlike other books available for young adult readers. 
4. Review Excerpts 
Scott O'Dell Award
2007 Horn Book Starred: "History and story are drawn together with confidence in this intense by accessible page-turner."    
2006 Publishers Weekly: "Klages makes an impressive debut with an ambitious, meticulously researched novel set during WWII."
2006 School Library Journal: "Many readers will know as little about the true nature of the project as the girls do, so the gradual revelation of facts is especially effective, while those who already know about Los Alamos's historical significance will experience the story in a different, but equally powerful, way."
5. Connections
*Research WWII and American civilians' contributions.  Present a product and share findings with classmates.
*Read Ellen Klages' sequel, White Sands, Red Menace. Discuss how the author finishes the story and how she might have taken a different approach.
*Author's Website:  http://ellenklages.com/index.html

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