Ellen Klages book “The Green Glass Sea” has been selected as the One Book for Nebraska Kids 2009 Selection. Kimball’s seventh graders read the book over a three week period in English Class.The author is touring Nebraska schools, making a presentation to student bodies and answering questions from the students. She was in Kimball on Oct. 12 and spoke to an assembly of junior high students.The Kimball students asked a lot of questions that indicated they had read the book and gotten involved in its intricacies.It is listed as a children’s book but the issues are deep, thought provoking and challenging for adults.The “Green Glass Sea” in the book’s title refers to the sea of solidified molten glass formed by the first atomic blast test in the desert of New Mexico. The heat of the blast was so intense that it melted the silicon sand over 75 acres, which solidified into a greenish glass when it cooled. The glass has since been broken up and removed, except for one chunk about 15 x 3 feet, which is off limits because of its radioactive contamination.Klages was fascinated by one sentence references to the “sea of molten glass” and did some intense research to become familiar with the real history of the atomic project and the lives of  the people involved. The story line deals with the experiences of two young girls who were children of research scientists engaged in developing the bomb at an isolated spot in the New Mexico desert.The two central characters, Dewey and Suze, do what kids of the early 1940s did in a remote area of New Mexico before television, cell phones and Ipods. The issues get to be much bigger as the scientist parents realize, after the first test blast,  what an enormous tool of destruction  they have created. They try to stop the military from using it.But they are too late. The bomb is already on a U. S. warship on  the high seas headed for Tinian Island in the Marianas group. It is too late to stop the use of the bomb. The Enola Gay carries it over Hiroshima, where it is detonated with horrific effect. A few days later, a second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki and the Japanese surrendered quickly.The unanswered question that is implied in the book is “Did we really need to drop the bomb?” When asked by the Observer if  the junior high audience had the knowledge of history to understand and appreciate the situation presented in the book, she said that “some would be stimulated to investigate the science and some would be stimulated to investigate the history.”This is a tough question for junior high students. It is a tough question for adults.Klages book is exceptionally well researched. She said three hours of research went into every page of the book.Most of the characters in the book are based on real people.Questions and comments from the junior high audience ranged from “I like your red nail polish” to “Was food  really rationed” and “Was Los Alamos real?”Klages said it is unrealistic to write about the atomic bomb without writing about death. So some of the characters in her novel die.Klages has written about twenty short stories and two children’s books. Her other book is “White Sands, Red Menace,” a sequel to “The Green Glass Sea.”Klages said, “I write fiction about science, not science fiction.”She said that children’s books have now expanded beyond stories about puppy dogs, horses, the prom and childhood adventures. Some present-day children’s books are now dealing with bigger issues as seen through the eyes of a child or young person.Klages said events as seen by children are simpler, not complicated by taxes, bills and common problems like faulty plumbing and deadlines at work. “Writers are like observant magpies, always looking for something they can use,” she said.Klages grew up in suburban Columbus, Ohio and is a University of Michigan graduate. She majored in philosophy, only to find no one was hiring philosophers.So she worked at a variety of trades, from pinball mechanic to paste-up work for a printer. She was working as a proof-reader in a children’s science museum when someone was needed to put together a children’s science activity book. Klages convinced the boss she could handle the job and she co-authored the science book. Her co-author urged her to try short stories, which she did, writing about 20 short stories which have been published.“The Green Glass Sea” was her first book.Klages said it was stimulating to take questions from a group of young people who had actually read the book, as her Kimball audience clearly had. It was obvious to the Observer’s observer that the interest of the young people was genuine and that they had made a careful reading of the book. Many of their questions were thoughtful and probed the deeper issues involved.