A heartfelt story of a budding friendship in the thick of the war--winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical FictionIt's 1943, and eleven-year-old Dewey Kerrigan is en route to New Mexico to live with her mathematician father. Soon she arrives at a town that, officially, doesn't exist. It is called Los Alamos, and it is abuzz with activity, as scientists and mathematicians from all over America and Europe work on the biggest secret of all--"the gadget." None of them--not J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project; not the mathematicians and scientists; and least of all, Dewey--know how much "the gadget" is about to change their lives.
On sale: May 1, 2008
Age: 8-12 years
Grade: Grades 3-7
Page count: 368 Pages
ISBN: 9780142411490
Reading level: Lexile: 790L | Fountas/Pinnell: W
Ellen Klages lives in San Francisco, California.
“Klages makes an impressive debut with an ambitious, meticulously researched novel set during WWII. Writing from the points of view of two displaced children, she successfully recreates life at Los Alamos Camp, where scientists and mathematicians converge with their families to construct and test the first nuclear bomb.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"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 Magazine, starred review
