White Sands, Red Menace

Starred review from August 11, 2008
Picking up a year after the close of The Green Glass Sea
, this strong sequel finds Suze and Dewey (short for Duodecima) living near Los Alamos with Suze’s scientist parents, who with Dewey’s late father had helped build the atom bomb. In the aftermath of Hiroshima, Suze’s mother has begun organizing scientists against war, while her father throws himself into his work to maintain the U.S.’s edge over the Soviets and “Uncle Joe.” This tense drama weaves family conflict with difficult political history: after a Thanksgiving dinner, Suze discovers that the guest her father has invited, an ex-Nazi who is now his colleague, helped run a German bomb factory where 20,000 slave laborers died. Equally gripping are the ongoing, rarely voiced struggles at home, not just between the parents but between the girls and their uneasy rivalry for Suze’s mother’s attention and affection. Klages has a gift for opening moral dilemmas to middle-graders—she includes (and sources) just enough information to engage her readers without detracting from her characters’ emotional lives. Once again she offers up first-rate historical fiction. Ages 10–up.

October 1, 2008
Gr 5-9-In this sequel to "The Green Glass Sea" (Viking, 2006), Dewey and the Gordon family have relocated from Los Alamos to Alamogordo, NM, now that World War II is over, because Mr. Gordon has been offered a job to develop rockets for the U.S. government. Dewey and Suze Gordon are comfortable with one another, almost like sisters, and begin eighth grade together at a new school, where they are required to take home economics instead of shop. Suze's mother has had to put her academic career as a chemist on hold and is struggling with her growing estrangement from her husband, based primarily on their different positions about the atomic bomb. But Dewey relishes the close bond that she is developing with Mrs. Gordon, only to have it disrupted by the arrival of her birth mother, who left Dewey and her dad when she was two. Superbly written and rich in detail, Klages's novel once again nails the uncertainty that many Americans experienced after the truths of Hiroshima began to surface. History is intricately woven into the story of these memorable characters, and issues such as self-identity, family, and racism are explored. The desert heat is palpable, the immense expanses are easily visualized, and the roles that women and minorities played in the late 1940s are painfully evident. The only problem is minorthe threat in this volume is not "red" communism, but rather ex-Nazis and the atomic research itself, so the title might mislead readers. Nonetheless, this book is every bit as powerful as its predecessor."Melissa Moore, Union University Library, Jackson, TN"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2008
Klages The Green Glass Sea (2006) won the Scott ODell Award for Historical Fiction, and in this gripping sequel, set just after World War II, science, mechanics, and politics continue to play a big role in the teen friendship story. Deweys atomic-scientist dad has died in a traffic accident, and she has moved in with her friend Suzes family near Los Alamos. Suzes dad is driven by his work in the new frantic race to build a rocket (The first man in space mustnt be a Russian), and he fights bitterly with his peacenik wife, Terry, about Hiroshima and the radiation nightmare. There is sometimes too much local detail, but the groundbreaking scienceis part of daily life for the smart techno-teens, and the adult characters are as compelling as the kids. As Klages said inan interviewin the November 2007issue of Book Linksmagazine, people are excited about future technology, and others are afraid that there wont be a future. Along with these global issues, Klages compelling story explores personal relationships and what it means to be a family.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)