GENRE 5 - THE GREEN GLASS SEA

Klages, Ellen. 2006. THE GREEN GLASS SEA. Viking, Penguin Young Reader’s Group: New York.

CHARACTERS
The main character in the novel is Dewey, a young teenage girl. Her father and the other scientists as well as her classmates round out the characters in the book. The characters are very believable and the clothing mentioned fits the time period. There are a few characters mentioned that are real and were involved in the events described in the book.

PLOT
Dewey, the daughter of an intelligent mathematician, tries to find her way in life while her father is working on a top secret military project. She is not like the other children and has to wear a special shoe due to an accident when she was young. She loves to build and tinker with machines that the other children do not understand. Dewey’s life seems to be even more complicated by the way people close to her seem to always leave.

SETTING
Most of the story takes place in Los Alamos in 1943. It is a secret military installation where they are working on a nuclear device to end the war. The quarters for the civilians as well as the rest of the base are described with just the right amount of detail. Near the end of the novel you discover a clue to the title of the book.

THEME
The scientists in the book are all working to create a bomb that will end the war. However, once they are successful some of them begin to wonder what they have done and how will it affect humanity. We still struggle with that same issue of searching for a better way or more knowledge and then contemplating what to do now that they know. The children in the story have the same scraps and verbal exchanges that exist today.

STYLE
The book captures you with the text to a point where you do not want to put it down and continue reading about the characters. You feel as though you are there in the story as it unfolds. You connect with Dewey and as the story unfolds you hope there is a twist at the end for her sake. The historical events in the book interwoven with ease.

ADDITIONAL CRITERIA
There is an Author’s Note at the end of the book which states the characters that are real. It also has a listing of sources for more information about the setting and time period.

AWARDS & RECOGINITIONS
Publisher’s Weekly
School Library Journal
Kirkus Reviews
VOYA
Children’s Literature
Horned Book Magazine – Starred Review
Scott O’Dell Award – 2007
New Mexico Book Award – 2007
Judy Lopez Award – 2007