Bombs over Bikini

April 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-"As soon as the war ended, we located the one spot on Earth that hadn't been touched by war and blew it to hell" (Bob Hope, 1947). Thus begins this chronicle of the period after World War II when the United States detonated 67 nuclear bombs over the Marshall Islands, specifically the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. Three bombs are discussed in some detail-Able, Baker, and Bravo-but this is not a scientific journal. The decisions of the U.S. to evacuate (or not) the inhabitants of the islands, the countdown, the fallout, the cleanup, and the effects of radiation on the inhabitants and military personnel are all included. The author's focus is on the negative effects of the detonations on the people of the islands and considers that the U.S. knowingly put the lives of the islanders in danger in order to advance the study of radiation. The book ends with a discussion of the money that was awarded to the inhabitants of the islands affected and how most of it still has not been paid. The black-and-white period photos are an excellent accompaniment to the text. A well-written book about a painful piece of history, this is an excellent addition.-Stephanie Farnlacher, Trace Crossings Elementary School, Hoover, AL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2014
Grades 7-10 On March 7, 1946, the population of the Bikini Atoll bade their home good-bye. They did it for the welfare of all men, but they were also promised by the U.S. government that they would get their islands back once nuclear testing was completed. Four months later, the navy exploded Able, a fusion bomb meant to test the effect of an airdrop on warships. Later Baker, a nuke placed underwater, was exploded for observation. The damage done by Baker alone made the islands uninhabitable, but test number 12 (Bravo, a fusion bomb with 1,000 times the explosive capacity of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima) created the first nuclear disaster, as fallout settled upon the nearby unevacuated island populations of Rongelap. With deft, well-researched precision, Goldsmith explores the ethical implications of nuclear testing, which rendered portions of the Marshall Islands unsafe for generations, as well as the ongoing fight of the Bikinese and Rongelapese peoples in the Supreme Court for fiscal compensation. A stirring addition to any classroom discussion about the environment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)