Bomb (Graphic Novel), written by Steve Sheinkin and illustrated by Nick Bertozzi. Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan. Raincoast, 2023. $23.99 ages 10 and up

 

"Szilard and Wigner told 
Einstein about the discovery
of fission in Berlin.

I haven't been following that work 
at all ...

And we know the Germans have 
stopped the export of uranium 
from the mines they've seized in 
Czechoslovakia. 

Horrifying. 
What can we do? 

We need to alert President Roosevelt. 
But he's never heard of us. We thought 
perhaps if the famous Albert Einstein 
were to write a letter ... 

Get a pen."

When Bomb was originally published in 2012, I tore through it, finishing it in one sitting. I was amazed at the storytelling, the details, the terror of developing an atomic bomb, and its consequences for the world and history. It was not an easy read, but it was very compelling. 

Reading the graphic novel yesterday took me straight back to that experience and its impact. The drama of the Manhattan Project, the spying, the secrecy, and the lengths to which so many went to get it done, is not lost in this more compact and relatable version of the story itself. It is a huge story to tell. 

Steve Sheinkin does an exceptional job of including the most important parts of the story in a graphic novel that is sure to find favor with middle and high school students (and adults as well) who gravitate toward reading in this format. Readers will tear through the action that includes the interrogations, the meetings, the development of the technology and learning needed to create the bomb, and then to use it to bring an end to WWII.  

 Nick Bertozzi adds emotional impact with realistic scenes of the meetings and exchange of secrets between Los Alamos and the Soviet government, the people trained and involved in the development of the bomb, and finally using the first two in a demonstration of nuclear power. The visuals bring immediacy and terror to the story, as they should. The story has many important characters; especially important are Harry Gold, who couriered information to contacts with great reluctance, and Robert Oppenheimer, who led the team and was eventually appalled by the role he played in bringing such destruction to the world. 

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

"Robert Oppenheimer was the father of the atomic bomb. 
But at that moment, he knew his creation was completely
- and forever - beyond his control."

Back matter includes an epilogue with further information about some of the main players in the story, and the fact that we have no way of knowing how it ends. An author's note shows readers how he adapted his original book, and acknowledges those who helped bring it to publication.  

This is narrative nonfiction at its best; Steve Sheinkin is masterful.