The Atomic Weight of Love was Elizabeth Church's debut novel. The book begins as Meridian heads to college in Chicago, falls in love and deals with a long-distance relationship as her boyfriend had to New Mexico to work on a secret war project. They later marry and when Alden decides to stay on at Los Alamos after the war Meridian lets go of her dream of a doctoral degree but searches for how to stay true to who she is. Church who grew up in Los Alamos does a fascinating character study of her mother's generation as they travel from the late 40's to early 70's with all its shifting social norms.
The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall is the second in a series of books about 4 sisters. In this book they cope with tough homework assignments, new neighbors, and the idea of their dad beginning to date again. The book is aimed at older elementary children and is charming, well written and well paced.
Please head over to Carolyn's for more Open Book.
Thanks for linking up! My daughter read all of the Pederwicks books over the past year and LOVED them all!
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