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seest12's review against another edition
3.0
This book is kind of a memoir, but I felt the author switched back and forth between wanting to tell a fairly well written story about her life growing up in a town affected by radioactive waste and a missive about what was wrong with the federal government's national lab facility on Long Island. I wish she had interwoven the two better. It was an easy read and I was engaged throughout the book, but I felt the dots didn't quite connect.
damsorrow's review against another edition
2.0
In the early 1980s, my great-grandmother, a first-gen puerto rican who had lived in the shit parts of the Bronx all her life bought a tiny house in Shirley, NY at 10 Lafayette Drive. I remember it well. I fell through the cover to the septic tank and went up to my knee in pure cess. When my mom fished me out and ran me to the bathroom, and my great-grandmother was outside yelling, "I saved the shoe! I saved the shoe!"
I saw a reviewlet for this in Oprah and knew I had to pick it up. When I told my mother about the Brookhaven superfund situation that backdrops the personal narrative she said, "Oh, that's why all the neighbors' hair turned orange."
But I was a little disappointed with the book, to be honest. It was not gripping, despite the fascinating subject matter. Maybe too much gauzy nostalgia, not enough synthesis, I dunno.
I saw a reviewlet for this in Oprah and knew I had to pick it up. When I told my mother about the Brookhaven superfund situation that backdrops the personal narrative she said, "Oh, that's why all the neighbors' hair turned orange."
But I was a little disappointed with the book, to be honest. It was not gripping, despite the fascinating subject matter. Maybe too much gauzy nostalgia, not enough synthesis, I dunno.
ava_catherine's review
3.0
Kelly McMasters grew up in Shirley, a Long Island working class neighborhood, located in the shadow of the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Much of McMasters's book is dedicated to research about the truth surrounding the atomic lab's culpability in the chemical leakage into the water supply for the town. She discovered that not only had chemicals been allowed to contaminate the area, but atomic waste had been buried on the grounds of the lab. During the years Kelly had grown up in Shirley, almost every family in the small town was touched by cancer, which the citizens always felt but could not prove was caused by the close proximity to the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The cancer death rate for the town was off the charts.
But this is more than a book about the atomic research laboratory and chemical waste which killed so many people and made so many others ill. It is the story of Kelly's beautiful childhood with four other little girls, the secrets they shared, the magical moments, the ordinary days that seemed extraordinary, and her love for her life in a special neighborhood. McMasters has a lovely voice, and I shall certainly read her next book.
But this is more than a book about the atomic research laboratory and chemical waste which killed so many people and made so many others ill. It is the story of Kelly's beautiful childhood with four other little girls, the secrets they shared, the magical moments, the ordinary days that seemed extraordinary, and her love for her life in a special neighborhood. McMasters has a lovely voice, and I shall certainly read her next book.
mmz's review
3.0
Told in the form of a personal narrative, this book contains a lot of interesting information about Long Island local history, especially the East End. There's also a lot of interesting information about nuclear pollution, which might make anyone question the water they drink. Unfortunately, much of this book also reads as an indictment of Brookhaven National Laboratory, which may or may not be justified. To be fair, McMasters credits BNL for having improved their practices in recent years, but the book still comes across as being agenda-driven and biased, which undercuts the message more than a little bit.
mayag's review against another edition
4.0
This is an absolutely wonderful book. The author perfectly combines her sweet and sentimental nostalgia for her childhood (which was idyllic in a uniquely American way) with the story of the poisoning occurring every minute in her town, to her friends and neighbors and to her and her family.
Shirley is a town abutting the Brookhaven National Laboratory and for decades toxic wastes were allowed to drain into the groundwater.
This isn't a medical book so she doesn't "prove" that the horrible cancers in her town were caused by the toxic waste, but really, I don't see how anyone could reach any other conclusion. The story of Shirley should serve as a warning to us all as to how government and money can trump concern for health; how expediency gets chosen over doing what's right.
I really recommend this book. I loved it.
Shirley is a town abutting the Brookhaven National Laboratory and for decades toxic wastes were allowed to drain into the groundwater.
This isn't a medical book so she doesn't "prove" that the horrible cancers in her town were caused by the toxic waste, but really, I don't see how anyone could reach any other conclusion. The story of Shirley should serve as a warning to us all as to how government and money can trump concern for health; how expediency gets chosen over doing what's right.
I really recommend this book. I loved it.
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