Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon (Newbery Honor Book & National Book Award Finalist)

A super interesting book about the atomic bomb, and espionage. I love Sheinkins writing style.

I am in eighth grade and I think this book describes both the race to develop and use the atomic bomb perfectly. The main plot is about the discovery of fission and the making of the first atomic bomb and the ones that followed. It is also about the race between America, the Soviet Union, and Germany to finish constructing the atomic bomb as soon as possible in order to use it if there is a possible or definite threat from the other country or countries. The book is well written and is also full of suspense. The main characters in the novel are Robert Oppenheimer (a physicist who was in charge of the making of the first atomic bomb), Leslie Groves (an army general who was in charge of the entire Manhattan Project), Klaus Fuchs (a physicist who ended up spying for the Soviet Union), and Harry Gold (a chemist from Philadelphia who betrayed his country by giving top-secret information to the Soviets.) The main locations the novel takes place in are America, Japan, and Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. The subplots talk about the scientists and physicists who were involved in the making of the atomic bomb and the ones who were also spies or were not spies but were accused of being a spy. The subplots also talk about the different locations where each bomb was tested. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in American history or physics (science.)

Non-fiction often gets a bad reputation for being dry and factual, reading more like a history book than a novel. Bomb by Steve Sheinkin breaks aggressively through those stereotypes. Bomb is endlessly thrilling. Even though I, and probably (hopefully) most readers, know the outcome of the race to build the nuclear bomb, I found myself on the edge of my seat. By focusing the text on character narratives, including dialogue, and threading between story lines, this book is an unexpected page turner. When you set aside the index in the back, the actual photographs, and then citation of quotes, it is easy to forget this a nonfiction text rather than a thrilling novel, and at times almost a mystery. I wish they would have taken the photographs of the characters (real people) and put them in the back as a photographic index. It was awesome to picture characters in my mind and then see what they actually looked like and I would have liked access to that right in the beginning of the book. This is a great text for cross-subject study. How fun it would be for the students to learn about the atomic bomb and WWII in history, and then read Bomb in English. This cross subject transfer leads to higher level thinking in our students and promotes actual, deep, learning about real historical events. Bomb is a great choice for teaching high school aged students about the atomic bomb in a new (and much more interesting) way. I think boys and history buffs will find extreme pleasure in this text, but it certainly is not limited to them. I don't usually enjoy non-fiction, and I am not a huge fan of historical fiction either, but I must admit Bomb was a surprisingly enjoyable read. It even taught me new information about a subject I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about!

I really feel this author is one of the best history writers for a history foundation out there because he truly takes you to the historical event or scenario. He puts in all important data but his extraordinary ability to depict historical events (almost as if you are there) is what brings his work to the top. I read history books quite a bit but his books bring you into history which is something I don’t get when I read many other writers compilations. I have thoroughly enjoy every historical book I’ve read by this anuthor (and I have read most of his work). I can’t recommend this authors history books enough. This guy is really talented and explaining history in a way that is to the point and enticing to read. I would give his books 100 stars if I could. Bravo!

My son had to read this book for his 8th grade English class. My husband was curious to read the book after my son started telling us about it. It is an amazing book. While it is used for high school level classes, it is definitely a book for adults/mature teens. There are a lot of facts in it and a lot of very descriptive language. It is great for any history buff or anyone who just wants to learn more about the production and use of nuclear bombs. While I did not read the book in it's entirety (both my son and husband did), many excerpts were read to me and many facts were related to me. I highly recommend it. (I was not paid nor compensated for this review. this is simply my HONEST opinion.)

Bomb, while billed as a children's book is much more than that! As a retired physicist/spy I "devoured" it in two days. Sheinkin does an excellent job interweaving the two subjects of spies and simple bomb physics into an interesting chronological flow. While I learned little in new facts, I was intrigued with the persona characterized of the principal players in this drama, both spies and scientists. Much of this personal detail previously and variously reported was new to me. The sourcing of the author's information, much of which I am very familiar - i.e. Richard Rhodes "Making of the Atomic Bomb", was extensive. I do have a few criticisms to note: there is scant emphasis that the Japanese as well as the Germans and Russians were also pursuing the Bomb, the lack of sufficient emphasis that development of the Bomb was a joint British/American endeavor, AND the decision when and where to use the Bomb was likewise a decision of the Joint British/American Targeting Committee. Another criticism is the author's failure to provide a good alphabetized index in the book. Overall, an excellent read, and not just for "children". Jerry S. Westminster, MD.

This book is well researched, it puts you into the mindset of the people involved with the creation of the atom bomb and their challenges and concerns. The action is paced well and keeps you invested in the characters and the story. Definitely worth the time.

I’ve become a Sheinkin fan I am. I already knew quite a bit re: Los Alamos and Oppenheimer, et all, but this author added much more very interesting side info to an easy to read and very intriguing book. I couldn’t put it down; I read this book in 3 sittings: 5 stars.

I really enjoyed the way the novel is written. I like that even though its a very scientific matter, it's balanced out by the adventurous spy stories. Reading this book I learned about nuclear weapons and their effects, the life of spies, important historical events and the division of the world into two groups. Although this isn't the type of book I usually read, I must say I found it very entertaining, informative and I would definitely recommend it.

Preciso e documentato come un saggio, avvincente come un thriller

Got ir for my 11 years old kid and he wants to conquer europe again. Its quite engaging and the loved the press mark of b2 bomber on cover looks great.

El envío estuvo bien dentro de lo que cabe. Tardo 5 días en llegar a CDMX desde Austin, Texas, USA. Era envió normal

I have a tough time finding books that my boys (aged 12 and 14) will read, but they both zipped through this one and said they loved it.