The Green Glass Sea

The first full-length novel by Ellen Klages.

It is 1943 and 11-year-old Duodecima "Dewey" Marie Kerrigan is on her way to Los Alamos, New Mexico, to meet her father. When she gets there, she learns that Los Alamos doesn't officially exist and that she is not to call anyone "doctor" because people might get suspicious. This is nothing new to her, of course. There have been lots of secrets since the war started, but now there are more than ever, most of them having to do with "The Gadget", a mysterious weapon that the adults are working on and that people say will help them win the war. It's only at the end that Dewey realizes just how big everything is.

This novel has a sequel, White Sands, Red Menace.

Contains contains examples of:

 * Cypher Language: With Greek of all things.
 * Embarrassing Middle Name
 * Embarrassing First Name
 * Huge Schoolgirl: Suze, who is as tall as most of the boys in her class.
 * I Just Want to Have Friends
 * Line-of-Sight Name: Dewey's birthday is December 12. Twelve-twelve. Her father is obsessed with math. Hence her name (Duodecima), which is the Latin word for twelve.
 * The Masquerade: Duh.
 * Missing Mom: Dewey's mother left when she was a baby; it's not until the sequel that we meet her.
 * Odd Friendship:
 * Open Secret: The testing of "The Gadget".
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: You would want to be too if your name was Duodecima.
 * Pinky Swear
 * Present Tense Narrative: One of the few times this is actually done well. Can still be off putting at first, especially with regards to the audio book, even if it only happens part of the time.
 * Secret Weapon: Though not a secret to the reader.
 * This Is My Side
 * Tomboy: Suze again.