by Michelle Hand for TWU Course Literature for Children and Young Adults
Klages, Ellen. 2005. THE GREEN GLASS SEA. NewYork, NY: . ISBN: 9780375858291.
Dewey Kerrigan, an 11-year old girl, moves to "the hill" in 1943 to be with her scientist father. He is involved with a super secret mission along with other scientists that will help
end War World II. Dewey finds herself trying to fit in with the other kids but she, too, is also destined to be a scientist. The only thing she is interested in is tinkering with parts to build her own gadgets.
Critical Analysis
THE GREEN GLASS SEA is about Dewey, a nerdy, science-oriented girl is trying to fit in and compete for her father's attention with his work which often carries him away from home. Suze, a girl Dewey's age, is trying to fit in with the popular girls, Barbara and Joyce, at school. While fighting her interest in learning science from her chemist mother and her scientist father, Dewey and Suze, who are brought together against their wills, soon discover they have a lot in common and become fast friends. While their friendship blossoms, President Roosevelt dies, Truman becomes president, Hitler dies, the war ends in Europe and the girls witness the first test of the atomic bomb from 200 miles away.
All of this takes place while they are living on "The Hill" or Los Alamos, NM, a place that doesn't officially exist. It is a military base where the greatest scientists and minds have come to the aid of their country to event a "gadget" that can end the war. It is a very safe place for kids living there to roam freely and sleep and eat in their houses by themselves while their parents work long, tedious hours in a lab.
Times, places, events and people are accurately described from Dewey and Suze's perspectives. Klages leaves no detail out when it comes to technology, music, media, and lifestyles of the early 1940s. Although, she writes in a very simplistic, almost flat tone, her descriptions of comic books, magazines, Dewey's parts and pieces for her gadgets, cigarettes, and food are "spot on." Her transitions from one chapter to another are smooth and
seamless with thought provoking, clever titles and date stamps.
Overall, THE GREEN GLASS SEA is an interesting read and gives young adults an accurate account of the sequence of events during World War II. I would hesitate to recommend it to just any 5th or 6th grader unless he or she is really into science coupled with history due to the fact that the story and plot move slowly.
Review Excerpt(s)
"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." - School Library Journal
"The characters are exceptionally well drawn, and the compelling, unusual setting makes a great tie-in for history classes." - Booklist
"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
2007 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Connections
Suze is good in art, and Dewey is good at making mechanical devices out of “junk.” Ask students to complete one of the following activities:
(1.) Create a picture, collage, or diorama of Trinity that Suze gives to Dewey to hang over her
bed.
(2.) Make a movable object out of “junk” that Dewey gives to Suze for her bookshelf.
Allow students time to explain their creations in class.
Write a paper contrasting Dewey’s idea of family at the beginning of the novel with her idea at the end when she lives with the Gordons.
• Point out the first time that Terry Gordon shows an interest in Dewey as a person. Dewey is close to her father, but she needs a mother. How does Terry Gordon become a mother to her?
What is Dewey’s reaction when she first hears the words family and home from Suze? What about Suze’s changing feelings concerning Dewey?
Dewey is reading a biography of Faraday. In the chapter “Heroic Figures,” Suze introduces Dewey to comic books. Ask students to:
• Research the life and work of Faraday.
• Then, create a comic book about him that Suze might write and illustrate as a gift to Dewey.
Connections from “An Educator's Guide to The Green Glass Sea ” Ellen Klages, accessed April 9, 2013, www.penguinclassroom.com/Penguinlp_green.pdf.
Other historical fiction about World War II and/or written by Ellen Klages for young adults.
Alban, Andrea. ANYA'S WAR. ISBN: 9780312370930
Craigie, Emma. CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH HITLER. ISBN: 9781906021894
Klages, Ellen. WHITE SANDS, RED MENACE. ISBN: 978670062355
Dewey Kerrigan, an 11-year old girl, moves to "the hill" in 1943 to be with her scientist father. He is involved with a super secret mission along with other scientists that will help
end War World II. Dewey finds herself trying to fit in with the other kids but she, too, is also destined to be a scientist. The only thing she is interested in is tinkering with parts to build her own gadgets.
Critical Analysis
THE GREEN GLASS SEA is about Dewey, a nerdy, science-oriented girl is trying to fit in and compete for her father's attention with his work which often carries him away from home. Suze, a girl Dewey's age, is trying to fit in with the popular girls, Barbara and Joyce, at school. While fighting her interest in learning science from her chemist mother and her scientist father, Dewey and Suze, who are brought together against their wills, soon discover they have a lot in common and become fast friends. While their friendship blossoms, President Roosevelt dies, Truman becomes president, Hitler dies, the war ends in Europe and the girls witness the first test of the atomic bomb from 200 miles away.
All of this takes place while they are living on "The Hill" or Los Alamos, NM, a place that doesn't officially exist. It is a military base where the greatest scientists and minds have come to the aid of their country to event a "gadget" that can end the war. It is a very safe place for kids living there to roam freely and sleep and eat in their houses by themselves while their parents work long, tedious hours in a lab.
Times, places, events and people are accurately described from Dewey and Suze's perspectives. Klages leaves no detail out when it comes to technology, music, media, and lifestyles of the early 1940s. Although, she writes in a very simplistic, almost flat tone, her descriptions of comic books, magazines, Dewey's parts and pieces for her gadgets, cigarettes, and food are "spot on." Her transitions from one chapter to another are smooth and
seamless with thought provoking, clever titles and date stamps.
Overall, THE GREEN GLASS SEA is an interesting read and gives young adults an accurate account of the sequence of events during World War II. I would hesitate to recommend it to just any 5th or 6th grader unless he or she is really into science coupled with history due to the fact that the story and plot move slowly.
Review Excerpt(s)
"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." - School Library Journal
"The characters are exceptionally well drawn, and the compelling, unusual setting makes a great tie-in for history classes." - Booklist
"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
2007 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Connections
Suze is good in art, and Dewey is good at making mechanical devices out of “junk.” Ask students to complete one of the following activities:
(1.) Create a picture, collage, or diorama of Trinity that Suze gives to Dewey to hang over her
bed.
(2.) Make a movable object out of “junk” that Dewey gives to Suze for her bookshelf.
Allow students time to explain their creations in class.
Write a paper contrasting Dewey’s idea of family at the beginning of the novel with her idea at the end when she lives with the Gordons.
• Point out the first time that Terry Gordon shows an interest in Dewey as a person. Dewey is close to her father, but she needs a mother. How does Terry Gordon become a mother to her?
What is Dewey’s reaction when she first hears the words family and home from Suze? What about Suze’s changing feelings concerning Dewey?
Dewey is reading a biography of Faraday. In the chapter “Heroic Figures,” Suze introduces Dewey to comic books. Ask students to:
• Research the life and work of Faraday.
• Then, create a comic book about him that Suze might write and illustrate as a gift to Dewey.
Connections from “An Educator's Guide to The Green Glass Sea ” Ellen Klages, accessed April 9, 2013, www.penguinclassroom.com/Penguinlp_green.pdf.
Other historical fiction about World War II and/or written by Ellen Klages for young adults.
Alban, Andrea. ANYA'S WAR. ISBN: 9780312370930
Craigie, Emma. CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH HITLER. ISBN: 9781906021894
Klages, Ellen. WHITE SANDS, RED MENACE. ISBN: 978670062355
RSS Feed