Bound To Stay Bound

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 Bomb : the race to build-and steal-the world's most dangerous weapon
 Author: Sheinkin, Steve

 Publisher:  Roaring Brook Press (2012)

 Dewey: 623.4
 Classification: Nonfiction
 Physical Description: 266 p., ill., 24 cm.

 BTSB No: 809560 ISBN: 9781596434875
 Ages: 12-16 Grades: 7-11

 Subjects:
 Atomic bomb
 World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service
 World War, 1939-1945 -- Commando operations
 Operation Freshman, 1942

Price: $26.08

Summary:
A gripping narrative of the race between countries, spies, and scientists to create the first atomic bomb.

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Accelerated Reader Information:
   Interest Level: UG
   Reading Level: 6.90
   Points: 10.0   Quiz: 153499
Reading Counts Information:
   Interest Level: 6-8
   Reading Level: 6.40
   Points: 15.0   Quiz: 58588

Awards:
 Newbery Honor, 2013
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, 2013

Common Core Standards 
   Grade 6 → Reading → RL Literature → 6.RL Key Ideas & Details
   Grade 6 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 6.RI Key Ideas & Details
   Grade 6 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 6.RI Craft & Structure
   Grade 6 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 6.RI Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
   Grade 6 → Reading → CCR College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards fo
   Grade 7 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 7.RI Key Ideas & Details
   Grade 7 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 7.RI Craft & Structure
   Grade 7 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 7.RI Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
   Grade 8 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 8.RI Craft & Structure
   Grade 8 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 8.RI Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
   Grade 8 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 8.RI Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity

Reviews:
   Kirkus Reviews (+) (08/01/12)
   School Library Journal (+) (10/01/12)
   Booklist (00/90/12)
 The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (+) (10/12)
 The Hornbook (+) (00/11/12)

Full Text Reviews:

Booklist - 09/02/2012 Using some of the same narrative techniques he used in the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction–winning The Notorious Benedict Arnold (2010), Sheinkin shapes the story of the Manhattan Project into a dense, complicated thriller that intercuts the action with the deftness of a Hollywood blockbuster. There are more characters than readers will be able to handle, but they’ll follow the three main threads. The first is a tale of spy versus spy, as Soviet informants infiltrate America’s Los Alamos laboratory. The second tracks the heroism of Knut Haukelid as he parachutes into Norway to destroy Germany’s heavy water plant. Most amazing is Robert Oppenheimer’s assemblage of the greatest scientific minds in the U.S. (aka “the world’s largest collection of crackpots”), who under great duress design the most lethal weapon in history. Sheinkin’s prose understandably favors plot machinations over character, and positioning photos in the back matter feels anticlimactic. Nonetheless, the painstakingly sourced narrative crackles and drives home the “strange mix of pride and horror” felt by the scientists who had just won the war—but lost something of equal worth. - Copyright 2012 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 10/01/2012 It’s probably fair to assume that the young adult readers who grab this title are already passingly familiar with the Manhattan Project and its devastating offspring, Little Boy and Fat Man. Here, however, Sheinkin sets the now-familiar story of the development of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos into the broader context of high-stakes espionage during World War II, as the United States, Germany, and the Soviet Union raced to create or steal plans for the weapon. The three threads of this tale are smoothly integrated and delivered at a steadily accelerating pace, culminating in a breakneck pastiche of primary-source observation and testimony as time closes in around deployment of the bombs. Teen history buffs will be particularly taken with Sheinkin’s riveting (and readaloud-worthy) telling of efforts by the Norwegian resistance to sabotage German production of heavy water in Norway, and of the network of spies who, for varying monetary, political, and even humane interests, smuggled detailed bomb-making plans out of Los Alamos and into the hands of the Stalin government. This is edge-of-the seat material that will resonate with YAs who clamor for true spy stories, and it will undoubtedly engross a cross-market audience of adults who dozed through the World War II unit in high school. An index, quotation notes, an extensive list of sources, and a modest number of black and white photographs are included. EB - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 10/01/2012 Gr 5 Up—"Harry Gold was right: This is a big story." So begins this depiction of the "creation-and theft-of the deadliest weapon ever invented." As he did in The Notorious Benedict Arnold (Roaring Brook, 2010), Sheinkin has again brought his superior talent for storytelling to bear in what is truly a gripping account of discovery, espionage, and revolutionary changes in both physics and the modern world. This fascinating tale, packed with a wide cast of characters, focuses mainly on three individuals: spy for the Soviets Harry Gold, leader of the Manhattan Project J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Knut Haukelid, who sabotaged German bomb efforts while working for the Norwegian resistance. Sheinkin skillfully combines lucid, conversational snapshots of the science behind the atomic bomb with a fast-paced narrative of the remarkable people who made it possible and attempted to steal it. Handsomely designed and loaded with archival photos and primary-source documents, the accessible volume lays out how the bomb was envisioned and brought to fruition. While the historical information and hard facts presented here will likely be new to the intended audience, they in no way overwhelm readers or detract from the thoroughly researched, well-documented account. It reads like an international spy thriller, and that's the beauty of it.—Brian Odom, Pelham Public Library, AL - Copyright 2012 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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