Very satisfying sequel to Green Glass Sea, Suze and Dewey are now teenagers starting high school in Alamogordo after the war while Suze's father is working on Werner von Braun's rockets. If possible, I liked the girls even better than in Green Glass Sea. It's a great demonstration of characters aging well. They're still recognizable as the same kids from the first book, but have changed and grown in realistic and believable ways.

The downside - one of the things I loved the most about Green Glass Sea is how neutrally issues are presented, at least on the surface. As a reader, you really get all the tools to draw your own conclusions about the development of the atomic bomb. White Sands, Red Menace is a little more blatant about which side is right. Dr. Gordon's anti-nuke campaign is obviously passionate and caring; whenever her husband Dr. Gordon gets some air time for the opposing view, he sounds like a ninny. Okay, now it sounds like I am complaining about not loving The Bomb enough. Even though I agree with Terry, it comes across as too preachy for me.

Grade B+
Recommended: Definitely to anyone who enjoyed Green Glass Sea. And these should be read in order. They should get some sort of prize for Best Use Of Historical Settings for Telling a Story - Los Alamos for the first, and Alamogordo for this one. ( )

Reviewed by Dianna Geers for TeensReadToo.com

Rocket this. Atomic-powered that. They are all the rage in the United States during the post-War era.

Dewey and Suze have moved with Suze's scientist parents to New Mexico. Phil, Suze's dad, works endlessly on a new project -- a rocket that could eventually land on the moon while Terry, Suze's mom, obsesses over her mission against the Bomb which both she and Phil created.

Dewey and Suze love working on "the wall" in their new bedroom. They tinker, build, and add more and more to the carefully constructed contraptions, even though girls aren't supposed to be interested in things like that. When Dewey's long-lost mother shows up, Dewey struggles to understand the meaning of family.

Take a trip back in time and be fascinated by people and events that created history and helped shape the world as we know it. ( )

The sequel to "The Green Glass Sea" sees Suze and Dewey living in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where Dr. Gordon is working on rockets. Mrs. Gordon is heavily involved in the anti-atomic movement and anxious to return to her own work in Berkeley. Meanwhile, the girls are coming to terms with each other and finding new friends.

This doesn't have quite the weight of the first book, nor the mystery (for the girls, and quite possibly for young readers) of what is being made on the Hill. Nevertheless, it is an interesting look at a little-known time and an interesting coming-of-age tale. The Atomic Age has begun, television is just around the corner, and their world is changing in many ways, large and small. ( )

This sequel to The Green Glass Sea continues the stories of Dewey and Suze as they begin 8th grade in Alamogordo, NM in 1946. Ellen Klages captures perfectly the growing tension and paranoia of Americans at that time, while still creating compelling characters. The book's told in a series of vignettes, which is not normally a style I enjoy, so it's a great testament to the writing and detailed, authentic setting that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

If you liked The Green Glass Sea, pick this one up! ( )

Sequel to The Green Glass Sea. This book continues the story of Dewey and Suze, brought together by the war and the Atomic Bomb. Both of their fathers worked on the bomb together, but Dewey's dad died, which left Suze's family with the choice to take her in. They're in a new town with new situations and things are not exactly happy after the war. Overall, I love the characters and the time period, a period that is not written about often - post WWII. ( )