The Gadget — Paul Zindel

Near the end of World War II, scientists in Los Alamos, New Mexico, are working on a project that will alter the fate of the world -- the atomic bomb. Thirteen-year-old Stephen Orr is living on a top-secret military base with his father, one of the physicists building the bomb. Stephen realizes the dangers involved when one of the scientists must be hospitalized as a result of working on the project. The scientist alerts Stephen to the disasters that could come from using The Gadget. Stephen believes it is up to him and his friend Tilanov to find the answers that lie behind this veil of secrecy.