Parenthetical.net

In 1944, Los Alamos doesn’t officially exist. It’s a top-secret military research base in the middle of the desert, whose sole purpose is to develop the weapon known as “the gadget.” This is the story of two girls — wannabe social climber Suze and cheerfully geeky loner Dewey — who live in Los Alamos with their scientist parents.

Artistic Suze hates the dull emptiness of the base, while Dewey loves the brilliant scientists willing to talk with her about her inventions, the dump full of machine parts for her to tinker with, and living with her beloved father for the first time in years. As the gadget draws closer to completion and personal tragedy strikes the girls, they question what their own lives — and the world — will look like after the war is over.

Klages meticulously researches her historical fiction, but this book doesn’t feel at all dry or fact-heavy. It’s very personal — almost too much so, for my taste. I loved reading about the social and emotional turmoil of the girls’ lives, but that part was pretty standard (well-written) YA fare. I wanted more about the development of the bomb. (Uh… that’s the gadget. Spoiler alert!)

The bits that have stuck with me most are the descriptions of life in Los Alamos — for instance, the boy who has trouble getting into college because he graduated from a high school that, on paper, doesn’t exist. Writing application essays is hard enough without military censors looking over your shoulder! *shudder*

Ultimately, this book does what all the best historical fiction does: reminds us that the great decisions of history were not foregone conclusions. (There was a great Marc Aronson column recently in School Library Journal that said this so much better than I just did, but I can’t find it. AARGH! …Uh, you know what I mean, right?)

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