The Atomic City Girls

I had not read The Girls of Atomic City. but saw this novel come up when I was searching for WWII-era books. I liked this book, it was more of a romance than historical fiction, but I liked the connection to Oak Ridge and the subtle realities in the novel. Told from different perspectives--a physicist, a black man, and a young woman newly graduated from high school--The Atomic City Girls, although fiction, piqued my interest in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The character development (or lack thereof) was interesting in this book as well. I liked most that one of the main protagonists, June, had an inquisitive nature. Through her time at Oak Ridge, she quickly learned about physics and living outside of the farm. I admired her ability to absorb the experience and to have a defined stance on concepts/controversies she was passionate about. Joe's story was also interesting to me, and had it not been for the spice of the romance, his perspective probably would have been my favorite. His perspective told the story of the people of color who worked at Oak Ridge; their mistreatment, low pay, and poor living conditions were reminiscent of that of the century before. Naturally, they fought against it, and it ended up hurting someone very close to Joe. It's always quite interesting to me how progress comes so slowly.