bookshelf

WHITE SANDS, RED MENACE

Name: WHITE SANDS, RED MENACE
Author: Ellen Klages
ISBN: 978-0-670-06235-5

by Ellen Klages ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2008

bookshelf

In the sequel to The Green Glass Sea (2006), 12-year-old Suze, parents Terry and Phil, and 13-year-old Dewey have moved to Alamogordo, N.M., where Phil Gordon is assisting with rocket experiments following detonation of the first atomic bombs in 1945. Scientifically minded Dewey (previously taken in by the Gordons after her father’s death) gets along well with Suze as they face a series of issues: Terry’s anger over her husband’s involvement in the atomic project and her unexpected pregnancy, the reappearance of Dewey’s mother, who abandoned her as a toddler, Dewey’s budding romance with a classmate and Suze’s occasional jealousy over Dewey’s comfortable place in the family. Told in the third person, the point-of-view subtly switches by chapter between the two girls. Although alluding to issues of the atomic age, that is not a focus of this story, which sensitively portrays the early coming-of-age of two likable characters in a unique setting. Although it works well as a stand-alone, this tale will leave readers anxious to pick up the preceding work. (Historical fiction. 10 & up)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-670-06235-5

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
OUT OF LEFT FIELD
by Ellen Klages

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREEN GLASS SEA
by Ellen Klages

bookshelf

ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS

by Scott O'Dell ; illustrated by Ted Lewin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1990

An outstanding new edition of this popular modern classic (Newbery Award, 1961), with an introduction by Zena Sutherland and...

bookshelf

Coming soon!!

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1990

ISBN: 0-395-53680-4

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THUNDER ROLLING IN THE MOUNTAINS
by Scott O'Dell & Elizabeth Hall

- BOOK REVIEW
MY NAME IS NOT ANGELICA
by Scott O'Dell

- BOOK REVIEW
BLACK STAR, BRIGHT DAWN
by Scott O'Dell

bookshelf

WEATHER

by Seymour Simon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1993

bookshelf

Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)