Silverstein, Ken. The radioactive Boy Scout; the frightening true story of a whiz kid and his homemade nuclear reactor.

SILVERSTEIN, Ken. The radioactive Boy Scout; the frightening true story of a whiz kid and his homemade nuclear reactor. Random House, Villard. 210p. notes. c2004. 0-8129-6660-0. $13.95. JSA 

David Hahn. enthusiastically working on his Boy Scout merit badge in atomic energy, got a little carried away ... An obsessive type who had always been fascinated by science, he had conducted various experiments ranging from making his own fireworks to concocting a tanning lotion throughout his childhood, but when David became a teenager he sought out new challenges. As the subtitle makes clear (and the Day-Glo colors of the cover nicely reinforce), the suburban Detroit 16-yearold set out to build a model nuclear reactor in the backyard potting shed--and he got pretty far, too. In 1994, government officials discovered his creation, which was emitting toxic levels of radiation and posing a health risk to thousands of local residents, and classified the shed as a federal Superfund site.

Silverstein, a journalist who originally published a story about David in Harper's Magazine, describes David's oblivious family, his scientific single-mindedness (he pretended to be a physics professor to obtain information on reactor design), and touches on the history of atomic energy, too. The result is a gripping read of interest to everyone, not just budding scientists. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.