Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon

Title: Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon

Author: Steve Sheinkin

Publisher: New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-59643-487-5

Summary: Taking us from the birth of the split uranium atom in 1938 to the beginning of the Cold War, Sheinkin introduces major players from science, espionage, and politics like Oppenheimer, Gold, and FDR respectively, and examines their contributions and hindrances to the development and use of the Atomic bomb.

Critical Analysis: Although Sheinkin divides his history of the atomic bomb creation into four parts—Three-Way Race, Chain Reactions, How to Build an Atomic Bomb, and Final Assembly—the book is far more than the sum of its parts. Using not only exciting text and photographs, but also the build-up and rapid pacing of a spy movie, Sheinkin draws us into a world filled with conflicted heroes, fanatical traitors, and a few people who are just doing their job. Reading of U.S. lead scientist Robert Oppenheimer’s physicist recruitment efforts and of the struggles of Russia’s KGB’s to obtain spies, both nations desperately seeking reliable people to work at the U.S. National Laboratory in Los Alamos, the secrecy practically begs one to whisper if reading aloud.

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The organization and research of Bomb is impeccable, justifying Sheinkin’s reputation as a trustworthy author. An easily navigated table of contents and a comprehensive index make it easy to find exactly what you seek. Pulling from a great range of authoritative primary and secondary sources, Sheinkin’s research is exhaustive. Almost twenty pages using very small font, the author notes, bibliography, and quotation notes authenticate the facts, descriptions, and dialogue used in the book.

Scheinkin has the rare talent of making WWII history buffs sit on the edge of their seats even though they already know how the story ends.

Awards:

2013 Sibert Medal

2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction

2013 Newbery Medal Honor Book

2012 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature

National Book Awards Finalist

Reviews:

Wall Street Journal: "This superb and exciting work of nonfiction would be a fine tonic for any jaded adolescent who thinks history is "boring." It's also an excellent primer for adult readers who may have forgotten, or never learned, the remarkable story of how nuclear weaponry was first imagined, invented and deployed--and of how an international arms race began well before there was such a thing as an atomic bomb.”

Booklist: “[a] complicated thriller that intercuts action with the deftness of a Hollywood blockbuster”

School Library Journal: " ...reads like an international spy thriller, and that's the beauty of it.”

Kirkus Book Reviews: “It takes a lot of work to make a complicated subject clear and exciting, and from his prodigious research and storytelling skill, Sheinkin has created a nonfiction story young people will want to read. A superb tale of an era and an effort that forever changed our world.”

Author Quote:

“As with all the best true stories, there are elements no novelist could invent. As I researched and read primary sources, one of the things that really came across was that here were bunch of folks thrust into uncharted territory, and feeling their way around obstacles. Take George Kistiakowsky performing a last-second fix on the first plutonium bomb with a dental drill, or Robert and Charlotte Serber’s bumbling attempt to spread misinformation about the project at a Santa Fe bar. There were so many geniuses at work on the bomb, but they were still making it up as they went along.”

-From an interview with Daryl Grabarek of School Library Journal on 4 September 2012. Find the whole interview at http://www.slj.com/2012/09/standards/cc_september2012_interview/

Meet-the-Author Book Reading:

http://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=8116&a=1

Activity and Websites:

• Use a database to discover and learn about countries that have atomic bombs today.
• A slideshow of the photos used in Bomb:

http://us.macmillan.com/bomb/SteveSheinkin

• The CIA website kids’ zone includes games and activities for various age groups, from kindergarten to parents & teachers:

https://www.cia.gov/kids-page

Video from Los Alamos National Laboratory:

Created for Texas Woman’s University course LS 5603.21