Book cover of The Green Glass Sea

Book description

A heartfelt story of a budding friendship in the thick of the war--winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

It'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…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Green Glass Sea as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This Scott O’Dell Award winner is historical fiction for middle grade readers.

Set in the New Mexico desert during World War II, Dewey and Suze become unlikely friends when their parents work on the top secret “gadget.” The gadget’s scheduled test lights up the pre-dawn sky for miles around but is explained away as an explosion at a munitions outpost.

A few weeks later Suze’s family takes Dewey with them to visit the green glass sea of Trinitite, a new mineral created as a result of the atomic bomb’s test. Readers will feel the humanity of how war affects us…

From Rebecca's list on little-known US history for children.

If you love The Green Glass Sea...

Book cover of The Real Boys of the Civil War

The Real Boys of the Civil War by J. Arthur Moore,

The Real Boys of the Civil War is a research about the real boys who served during the war, opening with a historiography research paper about their history along with its 7-page source document. It then evolves into a series of collections of their stories by topic, concluding with a…

Want books like The Green Glass Sea?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Green Glass Sea.

Browse books like The Green Glass Sea

Book cover of Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre
Book cover of Farewell to Manzanar
Book cover of The Eternal Soldier: The True Story of How a Dog Became a Civil War Hero

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,299

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like The Green Glass Sea, you might also like...

Book cover of Unfathomable: 20 Wild (But True) Stories About the Ocean

Unfathomable by Mary Boone,

Did you know you can survive being swallowed by a whale? Or that octopus wrestling used to be an actual sport? Or, that once a town in Oregon didn't know what to do with a whale carcass that washed up on their beaches, so they...BLEW IT UP?

As strange as…

Book cover of The Stormy Night

The Stormy Night by MJ Howson,

The Stormy Night is the first in a series of nine children's books for ages 8-12. The stories follow two dogs–a senior, disabled dog and a newly adopted puppy–as they learn to become friends and family.

The Adventures of Lucky and Mr. Pickle series are chapter books, not picture books.…

5 book lists we think you will like!