The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages. (Grades 6-8)I loved this book. Love love loved it!! I was so happy to see it on the list of 2009 Caudill nominees.
Here's what I said about it when I read it in February:
"This book intertwines the stories of Dewey (called "Screwy Dewey" by her meaner classmates) and Suze (called "Truck" by her meaner classmates) who are thrust together while their parents are working on a top-secret "gadget" at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Dewey has come to live with her father. She's a brilliant inventor, more interesting in tinkering with metal parts than being in Girl Scouts and trying to get the other girls to like her. Suze hangs on the edge of the cool crowd, trying to impress them by making fun of Dewey, but she's never really accepted either.
When Dewey's father is sent to Washington, D.C., Dewey is sent to stay with Suze's family. Will the two ever get along? Will they ever find out what sort of top secret stuff their parents are working on? Will the war ever be over?
This book gives a look at a life seldom seen in other books. The characters are really strong, though imperfect, and there is plenty to learn. Great historical fiction."
Read more complete reviews at Big A Little a, The Reading Zone, and Read Roger. As Roger posts, The Green Glass Sea won the 2007 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction (as well it should have!!).