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A review by ava_catherine
Welcome To Shirley by Kelly McMasters
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.